Small business owners these days often do not have much residual time to invest in the procurement of knowledge about the current Affordable Healthcare Act, and its impact on their business. In this LTSB we speak to Dr. Lenore T. Coleman about the new reform, how it will impact small businesses, and the importance that employee health plays on employer productivity and cost.
Meet Dr. Lenore T. Coleman. Dr. Coleman is the purveyor Healing Our Village, and the advocate of two important precepts in her service line: 1) The management of chronic disease through programming and wellness leaders, and, 2) The importance of data procurement for minority populations in clinical trials.
Dr. Coleman does not just cater to the Georgia market, she has 2 other locations in DC, and LA. As a small business owner herself, Dr. Coleman understands the importance of employee health, the idea, she says, is to engage employees in a health program that, ultimately, not only lowers the overall cost of health for the employer, but increases employee productivity. Dr. Coleman is engaged with several institutions on furthering this initiatives throughout her 3 locations (Atlanta, DC, and LA), the most notable in Georgia being Morehouse, which is one of the largest physician’s groups in the state.
Although Dr. Coleman has only been in Atlanta for 3 years, her practice has been around for 15 years altogether. That, coupled with her doctorate, also makes her a veritable well of knowledge for what the Affordable Healthcare Act really means for small businesses. Atlanta, considered the national hub of Medical IT, she suggests, would benefit greatly from the new Medicaid act. “Medicaid,” she says, “increases the number of clinics and expands the number of people who can enroll in the program,” which opens up the number of jobs for people in the IT medical field. Today, with telehealth, technological advancements, and the constant influx of innovation in the field, the expanded opportunities are endless.
Ultimately, this LTSB brims with education and information on the benefits of how to raise the bar for employees and their health, and provides vital clarification on the hot topic of healthcare reform for small businesses.
Dr. Lenore T. Coleman / Healing Our Village
Lenore T. Coleman, Pharm.D., CDE, received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of California, San Francisco in 1979. She completed an ASHP approved residency in Ambulatory Care at the USC School of Pharmacy in 1980.
Since that time, in every practice setting, Dr. Coleman has developed innovative programs to address medication adherence and barriers to health for minority populations.
Dr. Coleman has been a practicing pharmacist for over 30 years. She has worked as a clinical pharmacist in the acute care, ambulatory care and community pharmacy setting Within each of those practice settings, Dr. Coleman has focused on the care and management of people with diabetes and heart disease with a special focus on African Americans and Latinos.
Dr. Coleman holds the title of Adjunct Professor, Xavier College of Pharmacy and is the past Director of Diabetes Research for the Health Disparities Center of Excellence. She is also a Research Fellow, Center of Excellence, Howard University School of Pharmacy.
In 2001, Dr. Coleman founded Total Lifestyle Change, Inc. (TLC) and is currently the Executive Director and CEO. TLC a non-profit service organization (501 3 c ) and has most recently gotten the IRS designation as a pubic charity. Dedicated to eliminating health care disparities in ethnic populations www.tlc-global.org TLC has two primary programs that are provided in the US and abroad. Project FAITH is a church based program that provides wellness screening and educational workshop. Operation DETECT is a Diabetes and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Program that is provided to Community-Based Organizations.
Dr. Coleman is currently the President and Founder of Healing Our Village of Maryland, Inc. (HOV) www.healingourvillage.com). HOV provides minority recruitment for clinical research trials as well as a medication therapy management and health education programming in physician offices, urban hospitals and community health clinics.
In March 1996, Dr. Coleman became a Fellow of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists which represents sustained excellence in a practice area for more than 10 years. Dr. Coleman has 15 publications and provides professional training in the United States, Nigeria, Trinidad, USVI and Jamaica.