A San Antonio professor is part of a group of doctors studying ways to make healthcare better for patients. One approach is to make your primary care doctor’s office your medical home.
They say “home is where the heart is.” In the case of a medical home, it’s where your health is.
Dr. Carlos Jaen of the U.T. Health Science Center is the principal investigator of a study published in the Annals of Family Medicine. He’s like to see a shift in the focus at the doctor’s office.
“Most primary care doctors today need to see about 30 patients a day just to keep the door open,” explained Jaen, who is the chairman of Family & Community Medicine at UTHSC. “What we’re talking about is taking care of 50 patients a day, but maybe only seeing ten face to face.”
How would that work? It would take a team approach. The team would include nurse, medical assistants, physician’s assistants and other health care workers taking care of questions and visits that don’t require an in-person visit with the physician. That would include things like routine physicals, ordering tests or tweaking prescriptions.
More centralized record keeping would mean less duplication of efforts. The services would center around the needs of the patient, not the schedule of the doctor.
“The whole system improves because it’s less costly,” Jaen said. “But most importantly, the quality of your care and your satisfaction with care improves because now you’re getting what you need in a way that makes sense.”
Studies have shown the medical home concept improves access to care and cuts down on unnecessary hospital visits. But it’s going to take years and a shift in philosophy.
“We as doctors have to change,” Jaen stressed. “Frankly, I believe everyone deserves a patient-centered medical home.”
As part of the Health Care Reform Bill, the Secretary of Health and Human Services has been given the green light to set up pilot projects around the country testing whether the patient-centered medical home concept will work on a national scale.
