The physicians of a small primary care office opening in early January in a northwest Washington, D.C., neighborhood are zeroing in on a healthy diet as a key driver of population health management, according to the Washington Business Review.
"For too long, we've been asking the wrong questions in medicine," said James Loomis, MD, a physician at the Barnard Medical Center, planned to open Jan. 5, in Friendship Heights, according to the report. "Rather than asking what we can do to get a person's blood pressure down, we should be asking why it was up in the first place."
Barnard Medical Center is a subsidiary of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization that promotes a vegan diet and alternatives to animal research, according to the report. In addition to adhering to a traditional primary care model, the new physician practice plans to offer dietary prescriptions for plant-based food.
The practice includes four clinicians and four dieticians on staff to help patients learn about healthy eating habits through regular classes scheduled throughout the month. It will also include rotations to help physicians in training learn how to incorporate nutrition into their own primary care practice, according to the report.