Patient-Centered Medical Home - An Overview

Introduction:

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a care platform to facilitate a centralized setting that enables coordinated care between the physician, the person who is injured or ill, and his family through channels like information technology information exchange center so that the person gets the required care when and where he needs it. A patient-centered medical home focuses on the quality of care and safety of patients. The patient-centered medical home is gaining popularity and is the most sought after because it provides support and communication, builds stronger relationships with the health care providers, and saves time as it offers flexible appointment schedules and virtual health care consultation through telehealth visits, video calls, phone calls, mobile apps, electronic resources, or e-mail communication. The patient-centered medical home offers the proper care at the right time as it offers improved access to medical care and services.

What Are the Benefits of a Patient-Centered Medical Home?

The benefits of a patient-centered medical home are:

• It offers high-quality and cost-effective care.

• This model of care offers coordinated patient care across healthcare systems.

• It provides the care that an individual needs at any time, anywhere.

• It is a culturally appropriate healthcare platform.

• Integrates Services Across the Entire Organization: It is a model of a clinically integrated network with specialty practices, urgent care centers, and other health care systems such that it evolves into a high-functioning medical home neighborhood.

• It supports revenue growth as it is acclaimed by many federal, state, and commercial payers and thus offers incentive programs to patient-centered medical homes.

• The patient-centered medical home model is oriented toward promoting good health. Individuals who opt to receive health care and treatments in patient-centered medical homes are offered preventative services and screenings that help maintain good health.

• Better Communication: The model emphasizes effective coordination and communication between physicians, individuals, and their families or caregivers. The core concept of access to a patient-centered medical home is to render care at their request anywhere and at any time and to enable access to health records easily when needed.

• It offers ultimate comfort to the individuals as patient-centered medical homes focus on team-based care.

• It offers personalized care plans designed to address health concerns.

• It also offers counseling and guidance to help one follow the care plan to achieve optimum health.

• It encourages patient participation and shared decision-making.

What Are the Features of a Patient-Centered Medical Home?

The patient-centered medical home model is committed to rendering high-quality care through:

• Coordinated care.

• Clinical decision-support tools.

• Evidence-based care.

• Shared decision-making.

• Patient-centric approach.

• Performance measurement.

• Population health management.

• Comprehensive care.

• Quality treatment.

• Patient safety.

What Are the Advantages of a Patient-Centered Medical Home?

• The patient-centered medical home coordinates patient care across the health care systems, such as specialty care, urgent care, hospitals, home health care, and community services.

• This model delivers the core functions of primary health care.

• The patient-centered medical home emphasizes care of the patient's physical and mental health through a team-based approach to care.

• The main advantage of a patient-centered medical home is that it is patient-centered. Thus personalized attention is given to the individual and also values the individual’s culture, comfort, special needs, and preferences.

• The patient-centered medical home model facilitates telehealth visits, flexible appointment scheduling, and shorter wait times.

• The features like open scheduling, telehealth visits, and e-mail improve access and communication between doctors and patients.

• It streamlines the coordination of care by using better integrating data systems.

• It offers culturally sensitive care.

• It delivers accessible services with a shorter waiting time.

• It reduces per capita healthcare costs.

• It enhances the population's health.

• It adopts advanced clinical information systems to minimize errors and enable access to critical information and guidelines by physicians and individuals.

• The primary care physician takes up the care coordinator role, and thus quality care is assured.

• It improves the patient experience.

• It combines electronic health information exchange, interoperability, and population health management analytics for care coordination.

• The patient-centered medical home considers a patient's socio-economic preferences while developing a meaningful relationship with them and their families.

• In this model, individuals seeking medical supervision are offered comprehensive care through coordinated team-based care that also focuses on the patient's mental and physical health.

• A patient-centered medical home is a platform that efficiently uses practice resources, resulting in cost savings.

• It delivers improved health outcomes, especially for individuals who have chronic medical conditions.

• It offers job satisfaction to physicians and members across the healthcare system.

What Is the Role of a Patient-Centered Medical Home?

• A patient-centered medical home is an evidence-based platform that delivers treatment in primary care and is extended to huge populations.

• Patient-centered medical homes align with coordinated and comprehensive health care.

• It also addresses medical and behavioral health concerns.

• It ensures the quality and safety of treatment delivered to individuals seeking medical supervision at a patient-centered medical home.

• It aims at delivering the appropriate level of care.

• It is the transition from a single physician–based patient care to team-based care for efficient, comfortable, and cost-effective health care.

• The team at patient-centered medical homes consists of social workers, pharmacists, registered nurses, physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who support individuals seeking health care at this platform and their families and provide holistic care to patients of all ages.

• At a patient-centered medical home, the team members work to the highest level of their training and skill in an integrated fashion.

What Are the Elements of a Patient-Centered Medical Home?

The team at the patient-centered medical home constitutes the:

• Primary care physician.

• Dietician.

• Hospital.

• Specialty care.

• Urgent care.

• Counselor.

• Pharmacy.

• Imaging and laboratory aiding in accurate diagnosis of a medical condition.

• Nurse care manager.

Conclusion:

The patient-centered medical home is a patient-centered model of care that enables a strong relationship between patients and their clinical care teams. It is committed to improving the patient experience. The main feature of the patient-centered medical home is that it is patient-centered, accessible, coordinated, and comprehensive.