To Your Health

What is a patient-centered medical home?

Amid all of the talk about improving our nation’s health care system,
one concept of care that comes up often is the “patient-centered
medical home.”

So, what is it?

A patient-centered medical home is not a medical facility, rather it is a team approach to providing health care. In a primary health care setting, the patient and physician develop a partnership. The patient-centered medical home maintains a centralized, comprehensive record of all a patient’s health-related services over time to promote continuity of care. In other words, the patient-centered medical home is about building a relationship with a personal care team that manages and coordinates care over time whether that care is for a long-standing illness or for an urgent need.

Individual patients are encouraged to work in partnership with their physicians on their health and wellness issues. That helps patients – especially those with chronic illnesses – stay healthy and avoid hospital trips and other expensive treatments.

How is that different from managed care?

The patient-centered medical home model is very different from managed care. For one thing, the patient can typically visit any physician he or she chooses. In general, no special permission is required although it is always helpful to keep the personal care team informed of treatments that are sought outside of the medical home. The patient-centered medical home also places much stronger emphasis on wellness, disease management and quality care.

By taking advantage of advances in technology - such as electronic medical records, online services, information technology, health information exchanges and other means – doctors can ensure that patients receive care when and where they need it, and that the doctors themselves stay informed. The patient-centered medical home, therefore transforms patient care from a series of individual visits to a more connected experience designed to keep the personal physician aware and involved. Should a visit be needed, the patient-centered medical home is also designed to make office visits much more readily available.

How will this affect my care at Providence?

Providence Medical Group plans to implement a patient-centered medical home model for all of our primary care clinics in Oregon within the next two years. We are well on our way. In fact, Providence Medical Group already meets more than 50 percent of the standards required to achieve designation as an National Committee for Quality Assurance top-tier patient-centered medical home. In future issues of To Your Health, we will address how Providence Medical Group plans to use the patient-centered medical home model to improve your health care outcomes and control medical costs.