Patient Centered Medical Home Paper

Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) are growing in popularity as the right thing to do improve patient care. PCMH are growing in popularity, as there is early evidence of their effectiveness (Egge, M. 2012). The PCMH concept has been widely promoted as a way to enhance primary care and deliver better care to patients with chronic conditions. This model of care has stimulated the attention of payers, Medicaid policy makers, physicians, and patient advocates, as it has the potential to address several of the limitations of the current healthcare system (Wang, J. et al 2014). Currently, primary care in the United States is focused on acute and episodic illness, it inadvertently limits comprehensive, coordinated, preventive and chronic care (Bleser, W. et al 2014). The PCMH address these limitations through organizing patient care, emphasizing team work, and coordinating data tracking (Bleser, W. et al 2014). A PCMH and HMO have some similarities but are markedly different.

The fact that there are broad spectrums of services available within the Kaiser Permanente network makes it easier to coordinate patient care. For example the Northern California site has implemented programs that focus on five “imperatives of personal care”, which are: patients have to have a primary care doctor, they need to be able to see that physician, patients that call have a short telephone wait, patients should receive timely appointments and have a great care experience (Commonwealth fund June 2009). Care management definitely plays a crucial role in health care. When the patients needs are met and quality care is received the result is patient satisfaction and potentially cost saving for the organization. Patients not only have to deal with health issues, many experience challenges within their environment and certain limitations depending on socioeconomic status. Therefore , coordination of patient care is key to the success of any health care delivery system.

The primary care practice is essential to improve the care of our population, our current system is fragmented, but it does show potential for improvement. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has listed some areas that will help improve our system. One is “the need for external infrastructure to help primary care practices develop quality improvement” this is done with support to the quality capacity (Agency For Healthcare Research and Quality, 2015). Quality care will include the coordination of care within the system, as well as understanding what needs the patient will have

The patient centered medical homes (“PCMH”) approach “focuses on keeping people well, managing chronic conditions like diabetes or asthma, and proactively meeting the needs of patients.” According to the Arkansas Department of Health, chronic diseases like cancer heart disease or diabetes affect approximately over fifty percent of adult Arkansans. Yet chronic diseases are often preventable. The high rate of chronic diseases can partly be attributed health insurance coverage—“when people don’t have health insurance they tend to avoid seeing doctors. People

Overview of the Patient Centered Medical Home project piloted by Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania

One of the aims of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 is improved integration and coordination of services for primary patient care. The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is one of the approaches by which improvements can be established. The patient-centered medical home model is particularly well-suited for people who have chronic illness. The design of the patient-centered medical home model departs substantively from traditional reimbursement policies, in that, the ACA provides for incentives and resources to enable care coordinators to be directly recognized and compensated for their care coordination work. Care coordinators are most often registered nurses who through their work that aligns with ACA engage in quality improvement work, cost-effectiveness measures, and patient advocacy. To bring the ACA model to a human scale, the authors present a case study of a care coordinator at a patient-centered medical home in rural Maine. The table provided below provides a basic textual analysis of the study as it is published in the professional nursing journal.

The patient- centered medical home is designed to improve quality of care through a team-bases coordination of care, which would treat the majority of a patients needs at once by increasing access to care and empowering patients to be a part of their own care (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). In order for these homes to work, the authors suggest that specialists might be the best candidates to certain conditions, however for these specialist to function in the capacity that is needed in these medical homes, they would have to have interest and proficiency to manage other conditions that fall outside of their

Changes in current health care practices, the aging baby-boomer population, and the higher acuity of patients has created a need for change and adaptability with the health care industry. Kaiser is an organization who has shown the ability to continuously change in order to reduce costs while improving efficient quality patient care. The investment on information technology (IT) advancements such as the implantation of electronic health records (EHRs) and use of a patient portal system is one way the organization has shown readiness to meet the health care needs of patients. KP in collaboration with five other healthcare organizations created a Care Connectivity Consortium, enabling secure electronic retrieval of current

Professional associations, payers, policy makers, and other stakeholders have advocated for the patient-centered medical home model. Interventions to transform primary care practices into medical homes are increasingly common, but their effectiveness in improving quality and containing costs is unclear.

Patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a way to transform primary care practices into medical homes that coordinate care and communicate to what patients want to maximize health outcomes. Medical homes may lead to lower costs, higher quality care, improve patient experience of care, allow better access to health care and improve health.

The current health care sector is too costly and too fragmented with a lot of variation in care even with established evidence based guidelines. Providers lack the tools, support and information they need to offer the coordinated health management that can reduce cost and improve outcomes. Primary Care Physicians are constrained in their abilities to perform any proactive care that involves avoiding Hospital or ER visits, and influencing healthy lifestyles.

The use of information technology for building patient-centered care has been documented in the literature as a foundation for bringing together both internal and external information of concern for healthcare providers (Bali & Gibbons, 2010). The tactics also facilitate the achievement of the IOM’s goals to build effective teams. Communication has become a cornerstone for healthcare professionals to work together and for healthcare professionals to interact with patients to improve

A patient centered medical home (PCMH) could integrate patient care. A patient centered medial home is a team of healthcare providers coming together to improve the health of a specific population. A PCMH is designed to integrate primary care and specialists into improve care coordination, safety and quality.(Stange, et al 2010) A PCMH would also improve physician training and development to provide a commitment to treat the whole patient, rather than just one part.(Stange, et al 2010) Healthcare fragmentation can also be limited through improved communication between providers using e-mail and social media tools such as facebook and twitter.

Researchers conducted an observational study to assess the effect of Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) implementation on patient satisfaction, quality of care, staff burnout, and emergency department use. Information was gathered from 913 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospital-based and community-based clinics through the use of several surveys. Composite scores were then arranged into eight core domains of Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT)—the VHA’s version of a PCMH model. Researchers then developed a PACT Implementation Progress Index (Pi2) tool which was used identify the effectiveness of PACT implementation at each participating clinic. Clinics were awarded a scored between-8 and 8. Those with scores between 5 and 8 were said to have effectively implemented their programs. Researchers ultimately found that clinics with higher Pi2 scores had less reported staff burnout, better overall patient satisfaction, improved patient outcomes and lower rates of hospital admissions.

The resource interviewed is a stockholder from E-Health Partners. Motivated to implement the new healthcare technology, this group of physicians and executives within the health care world, acquired the electronic health record platform developed by the Quality Improvement Professional Research Organization (QIPRO) in 2009. Perhaps, E Health Partners (EHRez) is the fastest growing healthcare technology company in Puerto Rico, providing complete electronic health record solutions for providers. Actually, the IT department provides continuous customer support that includes service, backup, upgrades, configuration, and training, on site and remotely.