Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1108468
FOLLOWING A DIFFERENT BY RAMON CANCINO, MD, MSc, DIRECTOR OF PRIMARY CARE, UT HEALTH PHYSICIANS V IRGEN RODRIGUE Z-PERE Z , MD, a UT Health Physicians family medicine physician, remembers a different time. "In my other practice, we were seeing as many patients as possible because that was the way we made money," she says. Primary care physicians across Texas are used to practicing under this model. Traditional fee-for-service care incentiv- izes high patient visit volumes rather than high-quality care. This type of medical practice is often not patient-centered and can lead to unnecessary and often redunda nt uti lization of hea lt hca re resources, disjointed ca re a nd poor patient outcomes. Dr. Rodrig uez-Perez now follows a different model, a nd her patients a re benefiting, she says. " Now, b efor e m a ny of my pa t ient s a r r i v e , m y m e d i c a l a s s i s t a nt a n d I k n o w w h a t c a n c e r s c r e e n i n g s a r e due, whet her or not t hey h ave recent ly b e en t o a n em er genc y r o om or ho s - pit a l , a n d w h e n t h e i r l a s t d i a b e t i c fo ot e x a m w a s ," D r. R o d r i g uez-Per ez s ay s . " I c a n fo c u s on pr e vent ion a nd , i f my pa t ient ge t s s ic k , ou r t e a m c a n ge t t h a t p a t i e nt i nt o t h e of f i c e t h e s a me d ay t o avoid h av i n g t o send t h at pa t ient t o t he emer genc y r o om ." T he v a lue -ba sed c a re model s he d e s c r i b e s i s o n e t h a t f o c u s e s o n achieving what is known as the Triple Aim — improving a population's health and patient experience while controlling avoidable costs. Quality is often measured using Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) metrics and the patient experience. Costs are measured by factors such as avoidance of emergency room visits for ambulatory care, sensitive ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZ ATIONS (ACOS) FOCUS ON IMPROVING THE PATIENTS' HE ALTH AND E XPERIENCE WHILE REDUCING COSTS. MODEL OF CARE Ramon Cancino, MD, MSc, is Director of Primary Care for UT Health Physicians and Medical Director at UT Health Hill Country. He specializes in family medicine. M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S S A N A N T O N I O ■ 2 019 1 1 S P E C I A L F E A T U R E ❰❰❰❰❰ 1 1