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Week in Review: Patient-Centered Practice Makes Perfect

Patient-Centered Practice Makes Perfect
Thursday, February 7th

Dear Members and Friends:

This week we were delighted to see a huge upswing in conversations around patients and families, their experiences in the medical home, and strategies to build patient confidence in managing their own health.

This month's Health Affairs is dedicated to patient engagement -- a term that means many different things to people in and out of the health care system. The issue includes a terrific collection of articles about the cost-savings impact of informed and active patients; a framework to enhance patient and family engagement; and recommendations for implementing shared decision-making. In addition, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released Advancing Patient-Centered Care Through Health IT, which looks at the role of health IT in improving the patient experience.

With health reform implementation well underway, and insurance marketplaces just months from launch, the patient has never played a more active role in driving health system transformation. As medical home advocates, we must remember that our mission is to improve each person's care experience whether they are sick or well, or a patient, family member, or caregiver.

Sincerely,

Marci Nielsen, PhD, MPH
Chief Executive Officer

New Webinars
Strengthening the Primary Care Workforce

In the wake of major investments in the primary care workforce ($10M in primary care loan repayments announced yesterday by Secretary Sebelius, and nearly $5M to the University of Rochester Medical Center to develop a medical home primary care residency program), we are delighted to offer two free webinars this month focused on critical workforce issues:

Thurs, Feb. 14th 12PM ET: Lessons from the Field: Building a Medical Home Residency Training Program for Medicine Departments and Health Centers

Thurs, Feb. 28th 12PM ET: Easing the Transition: Core Principles and Values for Building Effective Care Teams

February Monthly Newsletter

Welcome!

The newest addition to PCPCC's Executive Committee, Corning, Inc. is the world leader in producing specialty glass and ceramics. With nearly 30,000 employees worldwide, Corning recognizes the importance of providing high-quality, patient-centered health benefits to its employees. Corning is passionate about promoting a culture of health and safety that drives continuous improvement in employee health, workforce productivity, and health care spending.

Transforming the Patient Experience

Many patients have become all too familiar with long wait times, fragmented care, and little face time with their providers. A new video (11 minutes) from WGBH in Boston offers insight from clinicians about the significant improvements in patient experience that result from team-based care and care coordination in a medical home.

The video includes interviews with Dr. Asaf Bitton, a primary care physician, and other clinicians from Brigham & Women's in Boston.

Medical Home Happenings
News from Around the Country

Medical clinic workers struggle with burnout Los Angeles Times, 2/3. Story covers provider experiences at community clinics, including long hours and treating multitudes of complex patients.

The Promise of Telehealth The Commonwealth Fund, 2/1. Three case studies demonstrate telehealth's impact on care coordination, patient experience, and hospitalizations.

Implementing the Affordable Care Act: State Action on the 2014 Market Reforms The Commonwealth Fund, 2/1. Report shows that only 11 states and D.C. passed laws to implement the ACA’s major health insurance reforms.

States Eligible for Medicaid Funding Increase for Preventive Care CQ Health Beat, 2/1 (subscription required). States get word from Medicaid officials about higher matching rate for covering preventive care and adult vaccines.

$4.65M to enhance resident training experience, enhance medical home model Press Release, 1/31. New funding will help expose primary care residents to medical home model.