Guiding the Transformation to a Medical Home
<p>A growing consensus supports the patient-centered medical home as a model for strengthening primary care, the foundation of an effective and efficient health care system. In a new Commonwealth Fund report, researchers from the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation and Qualis Health lay out the changes that most medical practices will need to make to become <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2012/feb/guiding-transformation-how-medical-practices-can-become-patient">patient-centered medical homes</a>. </p><p>Although the major primary care professional associations have advanced principles to guide the transformation to a medical home, the new report details specific practice modifications that likely are essential to the change process. For example, the authors discuss the key role of empanelment—the linking of each patient or family with a specific provider—in facilitating continuity in care and enabling clinicians to more easily monitor their patients and identify those requiring a higher level of attention and services. They also emphasize the importance of patient registries and other information systems in identifying gaps in care for patients before they visit, and decision support systems in helping clinicians make evidence-based choices. </p>
<p>The authors undertook their study as part of The Commonwealth Fund’s Safety Net Medical Home Initiative, which is helping primary care safety-net clinics in five states become high-performing patient-centered medical homes. </p>
<p>Read <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2012/feb/guiding-transformation-how-medical-practices-can-become-patient">the full report</a> to learn more about the keys to becoming a patient-centered medical home. </p>