Leisa O’Flynn, DO, Esq., Vice President, Medical Affairs for Southern NJ at Axia Women’s Health. Axia is a member of the Quality Institute.

Axia recently opened Axia Access Now, a first-of-its-kind clinic in Sewell, New Jersey, that offers a full range of women’s health services with walk-in and same-day appointments available.  How has the new concept been received so far?

We’ve received great feedback from the community so far. We’re proud to have a Net Promoter Score of 78, which is above the health care industry average. In the last year, we’ve helped about 9,000 women access critical women’s health services, ranging from annual visits to contraceptive counseling, STI testing, and pregnancy testing. We also offer ultrasounds and mammograms, as well as walk-in care for issues such as abnormal bleeding or menstrual problems. We are accommodating very busy women who may not be able to access care elsewhere. If you have insurance, great. If you don’t, no problem. We have a dedicated staff member who can help you find insurance. We accept most insurance plans, including Medicaid. We also offer self-pay options. We have daytime, evening, and weekend hours, and accept walk-in appointments to make accessing care more convenient.

When Axia designed Access Now, what community needs were you seeking to fill with this open access, same day care model?

Access Now is one of our nearly 200 care centers. At Axia Women’s Health, our mission is to lead the way in improving women’s health. We’ve seen that the two most common barriers to care for women are access and cost. Our goal with opening Access Now was to break down those barriers. Women are busy juggling our careers, our homes, and often caring for children. It’s very hard sometimes to get something done for yourself. We wanted to have a nice space where women feel comfortable coming to seek care. A place where they can get a pap smear, they can get a mammogram, they can get their labs done, they can have any testing done. It’s a one-stop shop for high-quality women’s health care.

How are patients seen at Axia Access Now connected back to their usual source of care — or assisted in establishing a relationship with a primary care practice to ensure they have integrated, comprehensive care?

We see patients from other Axia ob-gyn providers who are in need of immediate after-hours care, as well as patients from family care centers that do not offer ob-gyn services. After a visit to Access Now, patients return to their primary provider for any follow-up needs.  You do not have to be an Axia patient to utilize Access Now. You can just walk in. If you are an Axia patient, you can benefit from our centralized EMR. This means that if you see a provider at Access Now on Saturday, your regular Axia provider will have the information from your visit on Monday.

How is Access Now and the Axia Women’s Health practices in the state identifying and addressing the social needs of patients?

We try to understand the challenges our patients may be facing in the home environment that could be impacting their health so we can connect them to appropriate resources. We regularly partner with organizations like The Unforgotten Haven, and work in collaboration with them to collect donations for women in need. We collaborate with many other wonderful programs such as New Jersey Women Infants and Children’s Services that provides wholesome food to our women and children. We also work with ASCE Cares for Moms, which offers a whole range of resources ranging from mental health and crisis services, parenting support, and family focused therapy recovery.

My care center Premier Women’s Health of South Jersey and Access Now are closely affiliated with The Cooperative, (a Quality Institute member), which looks at how we can improve outcomes for obstetrical patients. We also have the resources within our community to direct patients, if needed, to mental health specialists. We offer remote health care and mental health counseling within our Axia network through our partnership with LinqCare.

Finally, we like to ask a question beyond a person’s professional work. If you could choose anyone (throughout history or alive today), who would be your hero?   

I think after COVID and all the obstacles we’ve all been through, I would say my heroes are the health care providers offering ob-gyn services throughout the state. The nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, or physicians who worked through COVID are my heroes because they really adapted to all the situations thrown at them. My heroes are providers who kept their doors open to patients during this incredibly stressful time.