Patient-Centered Medical Home - Fundamental Characteristics
Want to know all about Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH)?
The role played by federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) is crucial in the primary care safety grid. Millions of patients, most of whom are uninsured or have Medicaid, are being saved by FQHCs partially supported by federal funding.
Researchers related to commonwealth fund attempted to identify critical tactics that may be used by health centers for transforming into patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) due to their unique financing, patient population, and payer mix. PCMH adoption model that focuses on providing high quality, coordinated care helps improve patient experiences while lowering costs by bringing down unnecessary emergency department visits and hospitalizations.
During the year 2007, the Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home was developed by four members of the leading primary care-based healthcare professional societies. It outlined the PCMH model characteristics that are given below:
- In the practice level, the physician will lead a team and will take collective responsibility for the patients' ongoing care.
- Each patient will have an ongoing relationship with one personal provider who is trained for providing comprehensive and continuous care.
- Care will be managed and coordinated across all the components of the complex healthcare system as well as the community of the patient.
- A whole-person orientation exists.
- Safety and quality are the central factors in the care delivery.
- The added value that has been provided in a PCMH to patients will be appropriately recognized by payment.
- Patents have enhanced access to care through communication options and new systems.
EHR adoption is one vital factor in enabling health centers to attain PCMH capability. The supporting factors in this regard are financial performance incentives, hospital-Health center affiliations, and state-level support and payment for PCMH activities.
There are certain other characteristics such as annual patient volume, percent margin, and percent minority patients that are significantly related to PCMH capabilities as well.
In the pursuit of PCMH certification, you need to meet a total organizational and cultural change. PCMHs need the support of payers, states, federal agencies, and local communities for performing well.
