“Medical Home” Program Launched
The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine announces that the non-profit Bridges to Excellence has launched a program supported by a coalition of large employers to provide bonuses to primary care physicians who implement a coordinating approach to patient care. The program seeks to promote quality of care by financial compensation to primary care physicians who serve as the core “medical home” through which patients receive acute, chronic and preventive care. Responsibilities include following up on referrals to other physicians, tracking test results, and adhering to evidence-based guidelines in monitoring and treating chronic illnesses.
The patient-centered “Medical Home” concept was developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and has been adopted by the American College of Physicians. ACP President David C. Dale, MD, states that “practices electing to become a patient-centered medical home commit to providing care that recognizes the true value of partnership between patients and their personal physicians—who in turn accept the accountability and responsibility of improving quality of care.”
For further details, read the full news story in the AAIM Connection for Feb.1, 2008.
