This blog post was written by our guest blogger, Susan Maxsween, Healthcare Transformation Manager, here at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS).

Improved patient care and coordination of care has captured the attention of the healthcare delivery system nationwide.  With the inception of the concept of Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH), much attention has been directed to the overall impact of improved quality of patient care through an integrated approach to care delivery.  Since the release of the Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, released in 2001 from the Institute of Medicine, significant attention has been directed towards improving quality and coordination of care.  It is the notion that the PCMH model is essential to improve quality of patient care, but that this comprehensive commitment to improving patient care within the primary care setting be extended to the specialty and subspecialty practices to ensure effective and long-term coordination of care.

According to a position paper released in 2010 by the American College of Physicians, it is the realization of the full potential of the PCMH model of patient care to improve coordination and integration of care that requires the cooperation of the subspecialists physicians and other healthcare professionals, according to “The Patient-Centered Medical Home Neighbor: The Interface of the Patient-Centered Medical Home with Specialty/Subspecialty Practices.” 

The journey of transformation is founded in providing safe, effective, efficient and patient-centered care.  Here are a few recommendations in the redesign of the practice, which are derived from the Patient Centered Medical Home Model:

  1. Increasing patient awareness and engagement: Providing patients with the knowledge and resources to be able to be proactive in the overall decisions regarding their care and management of chronic conditions.
  2. Changing the culture within the practice: The entire team within the medical practice serves an equally integral role in the delivery of patient care.  It is the team that helps drive the efficient and timely delivery of patient care by ensuring patients are seen in a timely manner and that all patients are the center of care. 
  3. Improving quality of care: This focuses on the delivery of care, which is based upon the standardized evidence based guidelines that are adopted and applied by all clinicians within the practice.
  4. Patient Access to Information: Practices should regularly share and engage patients in standards of quality care.  With the adoption of patient portals, practices and patients can have increased access to pertinent clinical information through a secured HIPAA compliant venue.  Sharing of pertinent information will enable patients to make more informed decisions.
  5. Performance Monitoring: Practices should regularly be assessing performance based on delivery of quality of care.  Regularly reviewing clinical quality performance is key to assessing physician performance as it relates to effective and efficient management of patients’ healthcare needs for both preventive and chronic disease management.
  6. Patient Experience Measurement: Practices should assess overall patient satisfaction with a practice.  Overall satisfaction can be assessed through multiple forums including patient satisfaction surveying and/or development of patient advisory groups or panels to monitor overall patient satisfaction with a physician/practice. 

RMS Healthcare is a healthcare consulting firm based out of Central New York.  We have proven success in working with individual physician offices, large multi-site locations and physician organizations locally, regionally and nationally.  Our Healthcare division represents experienced and trained staff that specialize in: Strategic Planning; Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH); Practice Assessments; Patient Experience Measurement; Pay for Performance (P4P) Program Optimization; Practice Marketing; Meaningful Use Demonstration; and HIPAA Compliance.  Contact Susan Maxsween at susanm@rmsresults.com or call 315.635.9802.