U.S. Air Force Family Health Operations PCMH

To improve Air Force primary care and achieve better health outcomes for our patients, the Air Force implemented the Family Health Initiative (FHI) in 2009, which is a team-based, patient-centered approach building to the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) concept established by the American Academy of Family Physicians. In 2011 the Air Force had implemented PCMH at 23 of its MTFs and ultimately will expand it to all facilities. 

The Air Force Medical Home integrates the patient into the health care team, offering aggressive prevention and personalized intervention. Physicians do not just evaluate their patients for disease to provide treatment, but also to identify risk of disease, including genetic, behavioral, environmental or occupational risk. The health care team encourages healthy lifestyle behavior and success is measured by how healthy they keep their patients, rather than by how many treatments they provide. The goal is that people will live longer lives with less morbidity. Shortly after implementation the FHI saw the benefits of PCMH; Diabetes management at Hill AFB, Utah, showed an improvement in glycemic control in 62 percent of the diabetic population, slowing progression of the disease and saving $250 thousand per year.