Palo Alto Medical Foundation

The history of the group dates back to 1930, when Dr. Russel Van Arsdale Lee founded the Palo Alto Medical Clinic (PAMC).{{cite web | author=Palo Alto Medical Foundation | year=2005 | title=The Clinic is Born | work=Palo Alto Medical Clinic: The First 75 Years | url=http://www.pamf.org/about/pamfhistory/clinic.html | accessdate=21 November 2012}} Within a few years, several physicians joined Dr. Lee, including Edward F. Roth, Blake C. Wilbur, Herbert Niebel, Milton Saier and Esther Clark, one of the first female physicians in the country.{{cite web | author=Palo Alto Medical Foundation | year=2005 | title=The Practice's First Days | work=Palo Alto Medical Clinic: The First 75 Years | url=http://www.pamf.org/about/pamfhistory/practice.html | accessdate=21 November 2012}} In 1946 – before health plans were standard business – PAMC agreed to provide medical care to nearby Stanford University students in exchange for a flat fee.{{cite web | author=Palo Alto Medical Foundation | year=2005 | title=A Brief History of Group Practice | work=Palo Alto Medical Clinic: The First 75 Years | url=http://www.pamf.org/about/pamfhistory/grouppractice.html | accessdate=21 November 2012}} In 1950, it became one of the first facilities in the nation to offer radiation therapy for cancer patients in an outpatient setting.{{cite web | author=Palo Alto Medical Foundation | year=2005 | title=Timeline: 1930–2005 | work=Palo Alto Medical Clinic: The First 75 Years | url=http://www.pamf.org/about/pamfhistory/timeline.html | accessdate=21 November 2012}}

In 1981, the for-profit physician group PAMC created the not-for-profit PAMF to control its operations and assets, and in 1993, PAMF became an affiliate of Sutter Health, a not-for-profit organization with hospitals and medical groups in Northern California.{{cite web | author=Palo Alto Medical Foundation | year=2005 | title=A Novel Type of Health Care Corporation | work=Palo Alto Medical Clinic: The First 75 Years | url=http://www.pamf.org/about/pamfhistory/novel.html | accessdate=21 November 2012}} In 2008, PAMF's three medical groups – Camino Medical Group, Palo Alto Medical Clinic, and Santa Cruz Medical Clinic – merged to form a single medical group, Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group (PAFMG).{{cite web | url=http://www.pamf.org/about/ | title=About Palo Alto Medical Foundation | publisher=Palo Alto Medical Foundation | accessdate=21 November 2012}} In 2017, the Peninsula Medical Clinic (PMC) of Burlingame joined PAFMG as the Mills Peninsula Division of the medical group.{{Cite web | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/12/07/daily48.html | title=PAMF and Mills-Peninsula Medical Group to form new Peninsula medical group | first=Chris | last=Rauber | date=10 December 2009 | work=San Francisco Business Times | access-date=17 March 2023}}

In addition to its Health Care Division, PAMF consists of an Education Division and Research Institute. The Education Division provides classes, lectures, support groups and consultations, and manages PAMF's Community Health Resource Centers located in several Bay Area cities. In 2009, the National Institutes of Health awarded the institute more than $2 million in federal stimulus grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.{{cite news | last=Rauber | first=Chris | title=PAMF's Research Institute wins $2M+ in federal stimulus grants | url=http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/11/23/daily6.html | work=San Francisco Business Times | date=23 November 2009 | accessdate=21 November 2012}}

PAMF provides an e-health service that allows patients to view their records and test results from their personal computers, and request appointments and prescription renewals online. In 2008, it launched a pilot program to promote online communication between diabetic patients and their health care providers.{{cite news |last=Solovitch |first=Sara |date=21 January 2008 |title=PAMF hopes its online info system bucks trend |url=http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/01/21/focus4.html |accessdate=21 November 2012 |work=San Francisco Business Times}}

• In 2009, PAMF was named a top performer by the Integrated Healthcare Association, which ranks California medical groups on clinical quality, patient experience, use of information technology and coordinated diabetes care.{{cite news | last=Rauber | first=Chris | date=21 September 2009 | title=IHA names top California medical groups on P4P | url=http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/09/21/daily94.html | work=San Francisco Business Times | accessdate=21 November 2012}}
• In 2009, its Chief Medical Information Officer, Dr. Paul Tang, was listed on Modern Healthcare's list of 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.{{cite web | work=Modern Healthcare | year=2009 | title=100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare | url=http://www.modernhealthcare.com/gallery/20090824/FREE/811009998/PH | accessdate=21 November 2012}}

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• [http://www.pamf.org PAMF Web Site]

{{Palo Alto, California}}

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Category:Clinics in California

Category:Medical and health foundations in the United States

Category:Healthcare in the San Francisco Bay Area

Category:Sutter Health

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Palo Alto, California