The Power of Integration: How Chinese American Providers are Transforming Community Healthcare

Each May, the United States celebrates Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. This year’s theme, Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together, highlights the role of collaboration in building stronger communities.

As healthcare providers and community leaders, three providers from Rendr, New York’s leading primary care focused, multi-specialty medical group serving the Asian community, shared their perspectives on the healthcare needs of Chinese Americans and how integrated healthcare and community partnerships can bring better health into homes and neighborhoods.

Understanding Community Health Through Lived Experience

For Kelvin Lin, a Primary Care and Rendr at Home provider, healthcare access became personal early in life.

At age 10, Dr. Lin immigrated with his family from Fujian to Tennessee. Because his parents had limited English proficiency and were unfamiliar with the U.S. healthcare system, he became the family’s unofficial translator and healthcare navigator.

“From scheduling appointments and coordinating referrals to understanding lab reports and handling medical bills, many parts of healthcare depended on me,” Dr. Lin said.

According to Pew Research Center 2025 data, more than 40% of Asian immigrants in the United States have limited English proficiency. Language and cultural barriers, unfamiliarity with the healthcare system, and the realities of building a life in a new country often make preventive care and regular screenings less accessible.

For Anthony Tam, an Internal Medicine provider, this issue became deeply personal.

His father did not smoke or drink and swam every week. By appearance, he seemed healthy. But because hepatitis screening and treatment were delayed, the disease eventually progressed into liver cancer, and he passed away at age 57.

“When my father passed away, I was in my second year of medical school,” Dr. Tam said. “That experience made me realize how many outcomes can potentially be changed through earlier screening and prevention.”

Chun-Kit Chan, also an Internal Medicine provider, experienced something similar early in his career.

One of his first patients after opening his practice in 2000 was a Chinese man in his 30s. He had almost no symptoms, but testing revealed hepatitis B that had already progressed into advanced liver cancer.

“Many Chinese patients assume that if they feel fine, nothing is wrong,” Dr. Chan said. “But many diseases develop quietly. Screening is often the only way to identify problems early enough to intervene.”

A New Healthcare Model: Moving from Treatment to Prevention

Beyond hepatitis B, chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and colorectal cancer continue to affect many families in the Chinese community.

In recent years, Rendr has expanded its Value Based Care model with greater focus on prevention, early screening, and long-term health management, with the goal of helping patients stay healthier and reduce the risk of severe illness.

But moving from treating disease to preventing disease cannot happen through the work of one provider alone. It requires integrated care across the entire patient journey.

Dr. Tam explained that diabetes care extends beyond controlling blood sugar. Providers also work to prevent long term complications affecting the heart, eyes, kidneys, and feet.

As a result, primary care providers often collaborate closely with cardiologists, ophthalmologists, nephrologists, and podiatrists to build comprehensive treatment plans.

At Rendr, primary care providers can refer patients directly to specialists within the network. Shared patient records allow care teams to coordinate treatment plans more efficiently and create a connected patient experience.

At the same time, data teams proactively identify patient health risks, while care coordination teams help patients stay engaged with follow ups, medications, and preventive screenings.

Dr. Chan shared one example.

A patient working in Chinatown rarely returned for follow up appointments beyond medication refills. Rendr’s care coordination team repeatedly encouraged her to complete breast cancer screening.

The screening ultimately detected early-stage breast cancer.

Dr. Chan quickly referred her to Rendr’s internal surgical team, and she successfully completed treatment and recovered.

“For urgent cases, internal referrals can sometimes happen within one or two days,” Dr. Chan said. “Shortening the time to treatment often leads to better outcomes.”

Bringing Healthcare Into Communities and Homes

For Dr. Lin, chronic disease management is a long-term effort that extends beyond clinic visits.

“Some older adults believe that as long as they continue taking medication, they do not need regular follow up appointments,” Dr. Lin said. “But providers need regular evaluations to understand whether treatment is working and whether adjustments are needed.”

For patients with mobility limitations, including older adults and recently discharged patients, Rendr provides one on one house calls services.

As part of Rendr’s house calls team, Dr. Lin provides annual wellness visits, chronic disease management, post discharge follow up, and selected diagnostic support.

House calls also include health education for patients and caregivers. Examples include identifying fall risks at home, checking for uneven rugs, exposed cords, or whether safety supports are installed in bathrooms.

Outside of clinic settings, Dr. Chan also partners with health plans and community organizations to host health education events and promote preventive care.

For more than twenty years, he has remained active in educating the community about hepatitis B screening and prevention.

Reflecting on the changes he has seen, he noted that complications related to hepatitis are less common today than when he first began practicing.

Dr. Chan concluded:

“Providers should not simply wait in clinics for patients to seek care. Through integrated healthcare and community partnership, we can bring healthcare services and health education directly into communities and families.”

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