Greenbeard
Gold Member
Nice little article today about the potential of the patient-centered medical home model. Public and private payers alike have been working (often together) with providers to try and improve this model in pilots across the country (at least one state has converted its entire Medicaid program to follow the PCMH model). Have a read:
Robert Reid thinks he has seen the future, and it comes from Washington.
Not D.C. -- the state of Washington.
That's where Reid of Seattle's Group Health Research Institute has seen the patient-centered medical home in action, and that's what he was preaching to medical leaders in Sacramento yesterday.
"At Group Health, we found it was possible to improve outcomes, lessen physician burnout and reduce costs," Reid said. "Thats a triple whammy! You never see that."
Reid gives credit for the Washington state practice's fundamental improvement to adoption of the patient-centered medical home model.
"This really is an exciting time for primary care and there's a marked opportunity here," Reid said. "The United States has finally woken up to the promise of primary care -- and we're moving into a new era with the patient-centered medical home."
Reid boils the concept to five major points:
- Establishing and maintaining a strong relationship between the doctor and the patient;
- Making sure a physician leads a patient's care;
- Making health care proactive and comprehensive;
- Increasing access centered on patients' needs, with maximum use of technology; and
- Making sure clinical and business systems are aligned with all of these goals.
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