When we selected Tufts Medicine as the name of our health system, we talked a great deal about the meaning of “medicine.” In a traditional sense, medicine could be a pill or liquid taken to address a health issue. It might also be a type of treatment. But at Tufts Medicine, “medicine” means so much more. Food can be medicine, especially when there isn’t enough of it on a person or family’s shelves. Exercise is medicine, for the body and the brain. Housing is medicine. Breakthrough scientific discoveries and sharing that knowledge broadly is medicine. Compassion is medicine.
At Tufts Medicine, we are defining medicine innovatively and inclusively. We are embracing the many ways we can help people live their best possible lives. It was our goal to begin to share how we are reimaging medicine with our television commercial. And share just a few of our team members who make up Tufts Medicine to represent all of our staff who are completely dedicated every minute of every day, no matter what challenges are in front of them, to delivering unparalleled patient care
Home is Medicine
With technological advancements and increased medical knowledge, more and more care can be delivered at home. Home care can be more comfortable, more convenient and more cost efficient. That’s why we open our television commercial with a shot of one of our very own Care at Home nurse Janet Meyers, arriving a couple’s home. Tufts Medicine Care at Home nurses and teams see more than 15,000 patients, wherever they call home, each year. They assist with IV medication, wound hearing, physical and occupational therapy, homemaking service and more. They also provide both community and in-patient hospice care, bereavement support and palliative services. In the future, home care will evolve to offer a broadening of services traditionally offered in a hospital setting and move them into the home. Tufts Medicine is also expanding video visits, remote vital monitoring and more. The possibilities are limitless when we focus on our patients’ convenience and comfort.
Food is Medicine
Food insecurity and diet-related chronic diseases stand in the way of people reaching their full potential and best health. That’s why we partner with incredible community organizations like Lowell’s Mill City Grows, featured in our television commercial. Mill City Grows provides access to healthy food choices through mobile markets, farm shares, community and school gardens, working urban farms and more. Our clinicians know that meeting patients’ social needs is as important as prescribing traditional medicine. They are connecting patients to fresh food resources, housing assistance, financial services and more.
Exercise is Medicine
While we have outstanding hospitals to care for you when needed, one of our goals is to actually keep you out of them. Your Tufts Medicine care team wants to partner with you to keep you healthy and to prevent illness and injury so you can live your best life. More and more of our work is happening outside of the hospital and with people who are healthy but are looking for ways to seek wellness, balance or add more healthy habits into their lives. In our commercial we feature the Boston Kung Fu Tai Chi Group practicing their art in the beloved Chinatown community, where our academic center, Tufts Medical Center, is located just a few blocks away.
Connectivity is Medicine
Your life is busy. We want to be there when you need us. That includes creating digital tools that provide connections day and night. We’ve started with our customized app myTuftsMed, which helps you access your health information, message your care team, see upcoming appointments, start a video visit and more, when it is convenient for you. In our commercial, you’ll see our runner is able to send his vitals directly to Dr. Bindiya Thakkar, endocrinologist from MelroseWakefield Hospital, through the app on his watch. We’re working on more tools to keep us connected for your health and convenience.
Personalized care is Medicine
At Tufts Medicine, our mission is to provide great care for you right where you are. While sometimes you may need to travel to Boston to our academic center, in most situations, we’ve placed the best care in your cities, towns and neighborhoods. One example featured in our commercial is the recently redesigned birthing suites at Tufts Medicine MelroseWakefield Hospital, complete with luxury showers, comfortable arrangement for partners and plenty of space. The highly skilled team also personalizes the experience for you as you see in our commercial this couple is working with nurse Briana McLellan to ease labor pains using an exercise ball. We are here and adept at listening to you and your needs to give you the most personalized experience possible.
Breakthroughs are Medicine
Our scientists and professors are advancing health every day. From clinical innovations, to generously sharing our knowledge with the world, to teaching the next generation of physicians, Tufts Medicine is writing the future of medicine. Most importantly, we are helping people live their best, healthiest lives. As the principal clinical partner for Tufts University School of Medicine, we’re committed to expanding access to the latest research and treatments to people everywhere. Dr. Julian Wu – featured in our commercial at the teaching podium – is chief of neurosurgical oncology at Tufts Medical Center and a professor of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). He’s an award-winning teacher consistently ranked by his peers as a Top Doctor.
Complex care is Medicine
When the diagnosis is cancer, you want it all – the best minds, the latest technology and the greatest compassion. In our commercial, you’ll see all three of these components at work at the Lowell General Cancer Center. Expert technologist Komal Patel comforts a patient as he completes a simulation in preparation for radiation treatment. Simulations allow us to pin-point the exact location of the treatments and the best position for you. It’s all part of a detailed planning process to ensure everything is precise and customized for you.
Inclusivity is Medicine
Throughout our commercial you will see many places, people and diversity. Belonging is critically important to good health. We strive every day to acknowledge and address cultural and language needs to welcome all people as they seek health solutions. We engage with and learn from the communities we serve as partners. Our vision is to represent the community we serve and deliver easy to access and equitable healthcare.
We understand that there are inequities in care and that social needs play a role in achieving health. It is central to our mission to accelerate health equity reducing disparities by leveraging technology to identify social determinants in our diverse geographies. Our Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) addresses research disparities and diversity in biomedical careers. Our Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion builds an inclusive culture where people can thrive, advancing diversity, cultural competence, and eliminate structural racism to achieve equity. We have a DEI Academy and diverse talent pipeline programs. We recently partnered with AACA in Chinatown to educate community members, including immigrants about cloud technology and electronic health records for careers at Tufts Medicine. We increased the diversity of our leaders by 22% last year. We provide support and grants related to equitable COVID-19 vaccinations, the economic challenges of COVID-19, youth employment and development programs. We advocate with health equity and compact collaboratives at state level to influence changes in policy, data collection standards, health care payment systems, insurance coverage for vulnerable groups and social determinants of health.
We know that there is a lot of work yet to do. We are committed to investing in resources to continuously learn and implement strategies to accelerate our diversity journey and transform how we work. We believe in empowering our people and communities to thrive and to achieve their best lives!
