Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH)
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Patient-Centered Medical Home, or PCMH, is part of a national movement designed to create a system where every patient has one provider who serves as their "home" or home base, handling every aspect of your care. This physician will serve as one central point of contact and manage everything from test results, medications and care with specialists of any type. This means a patient would work to develop a trusting relationship with one doctor that they choose to coordinate every aspect of their care, over time.
From the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA):
New NCQA Standards Take Patient-Centered Medical Homes To The Next Level
WASHINGTON, D.C.— On January 31, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) will release new standards for its Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program. The new standards call on medical practices to be more patient-centered, and reinforce federal "meaningful use" incentives for primary care practices to adopt health information technology.
The patient-centered medical home is a model of care emphasizing care coordination and communication to transform primary care into "what patients want it to be." Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and improve patients' and providers' reported experiences of care.
The release of NCQA's new standards—PCMH 2011—marks the debut of the next generation of the NCQA Recognition program that designates high-quality primary care practices as patient-centered medical homes.
Expansion of this program—a 3,400% increase in recognized clinicians and a 5,200% increase in recognized sites since 2008—makes it NCQA's fastest-growing service. As of the end of 2010, almost 7,700 clinicians at more than 1,500 sites across America used NCQA standards as a roadmap to become high-quality primary care practices and receive NCQA Recognition as patient-centered medical homes.
"PCMH 2011 advances the patient-centered medical home as a paragon of 21st-century primary care," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "By emphasizing access, health information technology and partnerships between clinicians and patients to improve health, these new standards raise the bar in defining high-quality care."
"NCQA's new medical home standards will enhance care coordination, clinician and staff satisfaction and primary care quality nationwide, while putting patients in the driver's seat to manage their health," explained Susan Edgman-Levitan, leader of the 22-member advisory committee that helped NCQA create PCMH 2011 and Executive Director of the Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Read more at http://www.ncqa.org/tabid/1300/Default.aspx
From the American College of Physicians (ACP):
Who supports PCMH Care Model?
The PCMH care model is supported by the major primary care physician groups, including:
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Academy of Family Physicians
- American College of Physicians
- American Osteopathic Association
as well as:
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American Academy of Neurology, American College of Cardiology, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Internists, American Geriatrics Society, American Medical Association*, American Medical Directors Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Association of Professors of Medicine*, Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine*, Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine*, Infectious Diseases Society of America*, Society for Adolescent Medicine, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Society of General Internal Medicine and The Endocrine Society*.
* Endorsed the model following the joint press release.
Read more at http://www.acponline.org/running_practice/pcmh/understanding/
From the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP):
Patient Experience
In a medical home, the practice is organized around the patient – communication is based on trust, respect and shared decision-making. Patients want access to personalized, coordinated and comprehensive primary care when they need it, when it’s convenient for them.