Aspects of Patient-Centered Medical Home
Introduction
Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a healthcare service system in which patients’ treatment is managed through their physician to guarantee they receive the necessary care when and where they need it. PCMH aspires to revitalize primary care by achieving the three goals of higher quality, reduced costs, and a better patient experience. Involving clients and caregivers in their care is a critical component of the PCMH approach.
History of PCMHs
In 2007, various medical associations in the US collaborated to develop PCMH. It was initially conceived as a single repository for all kids’ medical data, particularly those with unique challenges. According to Pope and Truong (2018), the above is after efforts by Honolulu-based physician Calvin C.J. Sia, MD, in the 1980s in search of novel ways to promote medical services for children in Hawaii. He lay the basis for a conservatory policy document in 1992 (Flieger, 2017). This essentially characterized a clinical home in the sense Sia had envisioned it.
Present Structure and Impact of PCMHs
By 2005, the American College of Physicians (ACP) had created an advanced healthcare home concept. This approach included evidence-based treatment, therapeutic decision support systems, the healthcare management structure, medical treatment strategies, and improved and easier accessibility of services (Flieger, 2017). Others include quantitative quality measures, health informatics, and performance reviews. Payment procedure restructuring was identified as critical to the structure’s adoption.
The current PCMH structure includes, first and foremost, the personal physician aspect, in which each client has got a continuous connection with a primary doctor who I trained to offer first-hand, consistent, and inclusive treatment. Thus, patient-centered care is connected with greater heights of client gratification, devotion to commended lifestyle adjustments and recovery, improved outcomes, and more cost-effective care. Secondly, a doctor-directed clinical procedure is also referred to as coordinated care. In this setup, the family doctor supervises a group of professionals at the professional level who are equally responsible for patients’ continuous attention. Thus, care coordination is the intentional arrangement of clinical duties by two or more parties (along with the client) participating in the treatment to assist in the effective provision of care (Flieger, 2017). Establishing healthcare entails the assembling of professionals and additional resources desired to perform all essential medical-care undertakings and is frequently handled through the sharing of evidence among stakeholders accountable for various parts of care.
Thirdly, comprehensive care, also known as whole-individual orientation, indicates that the primary care medical personnel is accountable for meeting all of the client’s healthcare requirements or correctly coordinating treatment with other competent experts (Pope & Truong, 2018). Hence, Comprehensive care entails treatment that is organized and directed around the sic individual’s physical, psychological, and cognitive health standards (Flieger, 2017). When approaching the end of their lives, patients should still keep receiving effective and compassionate support.
Fourthly, care is managed and linked across all components of the patient’s community and the multifaceted care system to allow for easy access to care services. This is also aided by databases, information systems, health information sharing, and other cutting-edge methods. Thus, access facilitation is focused on assisting individuals in obtaining suitable medical resources to maintain or enhance their wellbeing. Fifthly, quality care, as well as the safety of patients, are characteristics of PCMHs, and they are attained through the use of a care-planning procedure, evidence-based treatment, continual improvement, and performance monitoring (Flieger, 2017). Other examples include information systems, patient-centered care, customer feedback, patient engagement in quality improvement initiatives, and a voluntary medical home accreditation procedure.
Sixthly, improved access, in which treatment is made accessible through processes such as open appointments, extended periods, as well as new communication channels among patients, their doctors, and other caregivers (Pope & Truong, 2018).
Seventhly, PCMHs have a unique reimbursement mechanism in which Medicare payments are based primarily on a preset, fixed amount. The amount payable for a certain service is determined by the categorization process for that service (Flieger, 2017). This payment method reflects the additional value offered to those clients with PCMHs beyond the regular face-to-face contact.
Future Role of PCMHs
As several states and the federal government have increased their investments in primary care, the US healthcare system is increasingly focusing on enhancing the value of healthcare services for its population. According to Flieger (2017), PCMHs’ future role will be to progress more in primary care to enhance health outcomes and decrease health care costs. PCMHs will also emphasize the role of healthcare professionals in extending access to care and delivering complete, integrated services to assist in enhancing patients’ experiences.
References
Flieger, S. (2017). Implementing the patient-centered medical home in complex adaptive systems. Health Care Management Review, 42(2), 112-121.
Pope, H., & Truong, A. (2018). The Practicalities of developing a Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) for diabetes care in an Australian corporate medical centre setting. International Journal of Integrated Care, 18(s1), 92.