A Part B News subscriber called me up the other day wanting to know more about patient-centered medical homes (PCMH). She says she has her doubts about the PCMH concept that government leaders and some medical associations support. She fears the PCMH will hurt individual and small practices.
We wrote about medical homes in the March edition of the Physician Office Technology Report. The American Academy of Family Physicians (or, AAFP) defines the medical home as: A patient-centered medical home integrates patients as active participants in their own health and well-being. Patients are cared for by a physician who leads the medical team that coordinates all aspects of preventive, acute and chronic needs of patients using the best available evidence and appropriate technology. These relationships offer patients comfort, convenience, and optimal health throughout their lifetimes.
I'm working on a story about implementing PCMHs at your practice based on a study titled "Patient-centered medical home: What, why and how?" from IBM. Clearly, IBM has an interest in PCMH because of the hardware, software and other services it offers. Perhaps they and many others stand to benefit from PCMH being part of the latest health reform bills being discussed in Washington.
But what about you? What are your thoughts on patient-centered medical homes? What would you like to know more about?
Update: You can read the study by going to our hot documents library, here.