MDNews - Central New York

++ + ++ + ++++++++++++++++++ MARKETING ‘Meaningful Use’ Pursue PCMH and By Mark Dengler P ATIENT CENTRICITY IS at the forefront of the current health care delivery transformation. The goal is to customize care, so that the patient can be fully engaged in his or her treatment. The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a model of health care delivery in which a primary care physician (PCP) utilizes a coordinated approach to treat- ing patients. It establishes a partnership between medical care providers, patients and their families to ensure that decisions align with patients’ desires, needs and preferences and that patients have the education and support they require to make decisions and participate in their own care. Historically, patients have visited the medical office when seeking clinical treatment for a specifi c ailment. Known as episodic care, this approach often fails to establish an ongoing physician-patient relationship. With a goal of becoming a PCMH, today’s physicians want to move from an episodic care philosophy to one of preventive and proactive chronic care management, creating standard work fl ows and using information technology to identify gaps in patient care. In addition, research fi ndings have shown PCMH accreditation has resulted in lower costs per capita health care, as well as improved quality of care and patient health statuses. Key principles of the PCMH include a physician-directed medical practice; a “whole person” orientation — with the PCP offi ce coordinating all patient care, including behavioral health; clinically integrated care among all health care providers (PCP, subspecialties, home health, hospital, nursing homes, etc.); attention to quality and safety; use of electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic tools, as well as evidence-based protocols; patient engagement in decision- making; payment reform; and enhanced access to care. Ultimately, the PCMH model will improve consistency of preventive care, quality of care for patients with chronic conditions and reliability of staff support for physicians, to name a few benefi ts. While the PCMH model is presently utilized by PCP practices, it is anticipated to expand to entire delivery system com- munities, including specialists. This means the specialty physician must also adapt to PCMH attributes, specifi cally the EHR, which will be utilized to communicate back and forth with the PCP and other providers. Outcomes will be measured at the patient level, and all providers will be responsible for the cost and quality of care. It is only through this care continuum that great quality can be delivered effi ciently. Some are referring to the inclusion of specialty providers into PCMH as the patient-centered medical “neighborhood. Presently, providers are rushing to adopt EHRs to take advantage of federal incentive “meaningful use” monies. This adoption of an “electronic tool” fi ts in well with the PCMH model of health care delivery, aimed to foster stronger patient-physician relationships. If you are working toward meeting meaningful use requirements, you are also technically working on PCMH. How does PCMH align with a practice’s work toward meaningful use? Both aim to: + enhance access and continuity using an electronic copy of health information, clinical summary of visits and access to health information; + identify and manage patient popula- tions; + plan and manage care through clinical decision support, medication reconciliation, e-prescribing and Rx formulary checks; + provide self-care support and identify community resources; + track and coordinate all aspects of patient care; and + measure and improve performance. Both of these initiatives should be pursued simultaneously, as meaningful use compliance assists with PCMH designation, and PCMH is the best vision for a sustainable model to deliver high-value health care at an affordable cost. Meaningful use provides the tools for supporting a PCMH with EHRs as the information management infra- structure for powering the workflows in a PCMH. Both result in higher quality health care and increased revenue for the practice. Mark Dengler is the President of Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS), a full-service marketing and market research firm located at 15 East Genesee Street (Suite 210) in Baldwinsville. RMS Healthcare, a division of RMS, offers focused, health care-specific consulting and research services to health care clients. Contact Dengler at (315) 635- 9802 or (866) 567-5422, or via e-mail at MarkD@RMSresults.com, to see how RMS Healthcare can help you. n ++++++++++++++++++ + + in Tandem MDNEWS.COM  MD NEWS Central New York | 1 1

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