With the advent of healthcare reform and the need to treat the aging population who have chronic medical conditions without bankrupting the payment system, new ideas to treat all Americans are coming to the forefront.
One such strategy which hopes to close the gap in the nation’s healthcare is called the medical home care model.
This is a patient centered approach which treats individuals from one central medical practice. The medical practice includes all health professionals a person would need to access to treat their health conditions.
If care is needed by providers outside of the medical home, it would be coordinated with other caregivers through the medical home. All treatment is tracked by the medical home so that this information would be self contained and accessible to the healthcare provider.
Electronic medical record data linked to various healthcare arenas, email communication with health professionals, open scheduling, and monitoring of health outcomes are advantages of this approach.
This idea could mean a higher level of care for you with great improvements in preventative care. Potentially, the risks of chronic complications can be reduced with closer contact to your team of healthcare providers who are informed about your specific medical needs and a team who is striving to help you prevent complications.
Ideally it would fit well within the healthcare reform plan with fee for service payments and coordination of fees when providers are needed outside the medical home.
The medical home would also gain monetary advantages for maintaining quality standards and positive outcomes.
The patient will be the center of attention in the medical home model.
This means that you must be an active participant in your care, your treatment plan and your lifestyle changes. You will be engaged in your own health and medical outcomes.
What are your thoughts about this new approach to healthcare?
We would love to hear your ideas about how this model will meet your needs.
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Thank you for a great post
As someone involved in developing policies for the Patient Centered Medical Home project at the clinic where I work I can say that I am totally excited about this concept. Within the medical home project we are instituting the use of case managers who will work with our highest risk/gretest need patients to assess their needs, not only health related but as a whole person to include social settings, family interaction, high risk behaviors, willingness and/or ability to engage in self management of those factors. The case manager will work closely with the medical providers, but also be a liasion for community resources as well as a support person for the patients.
The patient as a whole person is the focus, not just their health care needs. By engaging in this new paradigm of care we take away the dictatorial doctor telling the patient how to behave or manage their care. Instead we institute the patients ideas and abilities into the care so they feel more empowered to engage in their health care rather than turning responsibility for it over to someone they may only see for regular check ups or when there is an acute need. Care plans are developed with patient input and then there is frequent follow-up on achievement of goals. For some those goals are developed in baby steps, but for others bigger chunks may be taken on. It is an individualized care process that benefits all participants.
Hopefully this approach will lead to patients taking a greater interest in prevention and healthier lifestyles. In the long run this should help decrease the costs of health care.
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