How physician practices could share personnel and resources to support medical homes.
To become a medical home, providing patients with comprehensive, coordinated primary care, practices need to meet multiple requirements. These include some form of round-the-clock access for patients; managing chronic or complex conditions; carrying out timely, clear communication between providers and patients; and engaging in continuous quality improvement. The recently enacted health reform law reinforces these requirements. Although most primary care practices are small, we show how they, too, can meet the requirements by sharing services--for example, by using a shared nurse-staffed service to provide medical advice evenings and weekends--and by receiving help through various "extension" centers.
Patient-Centered Coordinated Care Program at Commonwealth Fund, New York City, USA. mka@cmwf.org
Melinda
M
Abrams
Edward L
EL
Schor
Stephen
S
Schoenbaum
D017047:Cost Sharing; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D035082:Federal Government; D017048:Health Care Costs; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000458:organization & administration; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006291:Health Policy; D006295:Health Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D013219:State Government