Patient Centered Medical Home

Posted on January 3, 2011

Imagine a medical practice where everyone knows your name. HNE and Baycare Health Partners (BHP) have started a pilot program to improve the patient care experience, improve patient care, and change primary care practice. “Patient centered medical home” is a term that is used frequently now in both the medical and lay press. Much of the debate around health care reform in the United States has been about the patient centered medical home as the best way to deliver care and pay providers.

The new concept of patient centered medical home requires that a practice can more easily track patients. The electronic medical record allows the practice to develop patient registries. These registries can help assure that all the patients in the practice receive consistent regular care. More importantly, HNE and BHP hope that the pilot will help practices think of new solutions for effective and efficient care. This will involve more midlevel providers, care coordinators, and a team approach to providing care. The patient will enjoy improved access to his doctor’s office. He or she can avoid emergency room visits for minor ailments. The patient can avoid complications from chronic conditions that benefit from more regular follow-up. The support staff in the office will track needed primary care and specialty care visits and procedures. They will ensure that all results are available to the primary care doctor. The patient will benefit from the help to navigate the complexities of the health care system. Primary care doctors should be able to spend more time with patients who need the doctor’s expertise to manage complex issues. Less complicated care can be handled by physician assistants, nurse practitioners and nurses.

The pilot started January 1, 2010. It includes 16 practices and is a mix of Baystate Medical practices and private practices in the Springfield area such as Riverbend Medical Group and

Springfield Medical Associates. All the practices have agreed to meet standards from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). If you are a patient at one of these practices you may sense that something is different and better over the next several years. If the way your care is delivered changes and you have more regular communication with the practice, those are all expectations of the medical home. More importantly, perhaps you will feel that everyone knows your name.

Categories: Spring 2011