Medical Homes: A Comprehensive Approach to Care
<p>Imagine that you have a case of acute bronchitis that worsens dramatically over a holiday weekend. Other than the emergency room, where would you go for treatment? Your primary care physician is not likely to be an option; according to a recent Commonwealth Fund survey, more than half of U.S. primary care physicians do not offer after-hours care.<br><br>While Americans may not be familiar with the term "medical home," they know when they don't have one--that is, a primary care practice that provides them with accessible, continuous, and coordinated care. In <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=25868&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Faboutus%2Faboutus%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D434064%26%23doc434064">a new column,</a> the Fund's Stephen C. Schoenbaum, M.D., M.P.H., and Melinda K. Abrams, M.S., explain why medical homes are the foundation of patient-centered care, and why every American should have one. The authors also discuss some of the obstacles preventing patients from having a medical home, and highlight new Fund-supported research under way to evaluate the impact of these models of care.<br><br>We encourage readers to share their thoughts on this important issue; with your permission, we'll publish selected responses to the column on our Web site.</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2006/dec/medical-homes--a-comprehensive-approach-to-care