By Shamona McClary

Kannapolis Citizen

Cabarrus Family Medicine is making moves in the medical field, literally.

It started as just a single practice in Mount Pleasant, but now the practice has grown to become a multi-clinic group with seven practices in Cabarrus and Stanly

counties.

And as an effort to expand their services, the practice is moving the Kannapolis location to real estate tycoon David Murdock's N.C. Research Campus — a biotechnology hub that campus officials anticipate will create about 35,000 jobs.

Tom Earnhardt, a certified physician's assistant and the practice's chief operating director, said the relocation could not have come at a better time.

"We were looking for something that allowed expansion needs," he said.

The Loop Road practice — about 10,000 square feet — will make a short jump across the street to the campus to a larger, 16,000- square-foot facility.

The main level of the four-story building will house the practice's office and urgent care facilities. Above that will be specialty practices, such as cosmetic procedures, in a beauty and wellness center.

Those procedures would include laser skin treatments, hair removal and Botox injections, Earnhardt said.

In keeping with the essence of Murdock's vision, the practice, which is already affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University, will continue to work with the universities to research and explore ways to rid society of diseases such as obesity.

"We have a vision to do more research centered around nutrition and not just focus on Kannapolis, but the whole region," Earnhardt said.

With nutritionists and psychological and behavioral health specialists on staff, coupled with weight loss management counseling and metabolic testing, he said their goal is attainable.

Metabolic testing, which uses technology to tell how many calories a body burns at rest and/or during exercise and how many daily calories are needed in order to lose or gain weight, is nothing new in health care. Earnhardt said professional athletes do this testing all the time.

But what makes the practice unique is that it is becoming one of the first to provide the same research to non-athletes at an affordable cost.

Earnhardt said their advanced health care can give patients an exercise prescription, unlike most diets.

"We can give you exactly what you need to do to lose the weight," he said. Earnhardt said the key is changing lifestyles.

Although a need for more space is critical, Earnhardt said the move means more than having a larger building.

With a current speciality in primary care, he said, "We're certainly expanding to meet the needs of the community."

Earnhardt said they are sticking to their commitment for excellence and doing what founder Dr. Allen Dobson intended from the beginning.

"He had a great interest in serving and reaching out to the community that lacked sufficient care," he said.

While keeping that mission at heart, the practice has, since the foundation in 1983, married health care and technology. That has done away with handwritten prescriptions and payroll checks and the use of ledger cards.

With Earnhardt's assistance, the practice has upgraded to a computerized system that simplifies doctors' and patients' lives.

Payroll is automated and health maintenance is easier to manage.

"Our main driving force is always about quality and safety," Earnhardt said.

Advancements in technology have also allowed the group to be one of the first to adopt and fully implement Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina's e-prescribe system.

E-prescribe provides a paperless and phoneless way of ordering patients' medication from pharmacies via computer links.

With e-prescribe technology, refill authorizations can be completed in seconds instead of hours, and administrative steps related to refills can be reduced from 15 to three. Plus, a database keeps track of drug-to-drug interactions. Earnhardt said this reduces the chance for errors.

He said such practices have helped them to evolve from the days of struggling to the present, where state-of-the-art health care is produced.

Earnhardt recalled earlier years when doctors could not afford to pay themselves sometimes, but always made sure staff was paid.

With more than 200 employees — including more than 40 physicians — Cabarrus Family Medicine has become the 19th largest employer in Cabarrus County.

And mirroring the spinoff effect of the entire campus on the region, Earnhardt said their expansion could possibly create more jobs within the practice.

Because of the massive layoff of Pillowtex workers, Earnhardt said he can't wait to see the project come to fruition.

"They've really struggled," he said. "This is exciting to me because something good is finally coming their way."

Contact Shamona McClary at 704-933-3450 or smcclary@salisburypost.com.