Drs. Earl and Louise Zazove Lecture in Family Medicine

Neela K. Patel, MD, MPH, CMD is Associate Professor with Tenure, and Chief of the Division of Geriatrics & Supportive Care in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Patel has developed a reputation in south Texas and beyond as one of the best doctors and sought after geriatrician, for the care she and her team provide to the older adult population that is mainly 40% Hispanic and more likely to develop Dementia compared to persons of European Ancestry. Dr. Patel with her team has developed a model of integrated care for older adults across all clinical settings - clinic, acute care of elders inpatient care, skilled nursing care and long term custodial care, care in rehabilitation centers, palliative and hospice care, called the CARINO Approach that is linked to community resources such as home health agencies, the Alzheimer’s association, senior centers, hospital, consultants and other community resources. Dr. Patel was recently jointly appointment as Associate Professor of our newly formed Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimers” and Neurological Disorders. Her role is to develop and implement closely integrated, seamless care patterns across clinicians– ranging from screening in primary care offices, personalized preventive advice, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, developing integrated care plans, and to work in collaboration with the Biggs team for supporting community care providers and family caregivers, as behavioral, medical and neurological issues arise, to manage severe dementia, discussion of advance directives and palliative care/hospice care support.  She was instrumental with the Biggs team to start the comprehensive care of persons with dementia, multidisciplinary clinic to include Neurology, Psychiatry, Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Geriatrics & Palliative Care. Dr. Patel is the recipient of the 2017 Presidential Clinical Excellence Award. She is an expert in patient-centered care, end of life care, chronic diseases in older adults including parkinson‘s disease and dementia and maintenance of function and quality of life of older adults. She serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Caring for the Caregiver Program with the UT Health School of Nursing. Dr. Patel also is CO-PI with Dr. Carole White on a PCORI - Grant to enhance palliative care and end of life care for persons with dementia. She is an integral part of the stakeholder advisory council for that grant. Dr. Patel is a life- long learner and teacher and believes learning is more than formal education and classroom teaching, it is a reflective process in which one acquires and applies knowledge, skills, and a sense of devotion and gratitude for the privilege of caring for others. She teaches and is a role model for medical students, Family Medicine residents; fellows in geriatric and palliative medicine. Dr. Patel is active in organizations at many levels. Locally within UT she is an EPIC clinician champion and an active member of the UT Health IT/IM Steering committee. She is currently working with the IT team to get Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives documented and easy to find with templates in the electronic health record. Dr. Patel serves as mentor for the Center for the Medical Ethics and Humanities and is active in the Global health committee mentoring medical students and providing global health experiences. Dr. Patel assisted with establishing a memorandum of understanding with a couple of medical universities in India. She is an active member of the Texas Geriatrics Society Board. Was past president of the Texas Indo American Physician Society South West Chapter. Nationally she is active member of the Health Systems Innovation –Economics and Technology Committee.Dr. Patel was nominated and is one of the 6 members of the EPIC Geriatrics Steering Committee  Board and advises EPIC on initiatives for geriatrics nationally.  She is an active member of the program committee for the society for post acute and long term care. Internationally: She is reviewer of abstracts for the International Association of Geriatrics & Gerontology. She has been appointed as Visiting Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai, India because of her reputation in India as a trainer for the train the trainer’s program for managing behaviors in patients with dementia and also caring for the caregivers. In 2018 Dr. Patel was appointed as Adjunct Professor Manipal Academy of Higher Education in the Department of Neurology.