Sequim Medical Associates was named one of the 2018 Leaders in Health Care-Patient Experience Award winners by Seattle Business Magazine earlier this month.

In late 2017, the Washington Health Alliance sent surveys to 240,000 patients of 114 primary care medical groups and 351 clinics across the state. The surveys asked the patients how well their health providers communicated with them, coordinated their care, showed respect and courtesy and performed overall. Only four organizations in the state scored better than average in every category.

Sequim Medical Associates, along with EvergreenHealth, Astria Health Center and Familycare of Kent, scored better than average in every category in the survey.

Dr. Charles Sullivan and Dr. Roger Olsen founded Sequim Medical Associates in 1981.

According to Seattle Business Magazine: “By 2002, low Medicare reimbursements meant the average office call nationally was 11 minutes. The medical system Sullivan was affiliated with insisted the clinic’s four doctors talk to each patient about one problem per visit, but an aging clientele required more time to discuss multiple problems, so Sullivan began a concierge practice charging a monthly fee — $65 to $80, depending on age — for services not billable to an insurance company. (Ten percent of patients pay nothing.) More time with patients, Sullivan says, allows doctors to deal with more problems and refer less often to specialists.”