Hopkins GIM: What's New

SGIM Releases Blue Ribbon Panel Report

The Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) has recently issued its latest position paper, Redesigning the Practice Model for General Internal Medicine—A Proposal for Coordinated Care.

General Internal Medicine is facing a growing crisis in the U.S. as physicians are choosing other arenas of practice due to a system of reimbursement that rewards the diagnosis and treatment of disease with procedures and devices rather than careful examination and management. IMs also cite excessive administrative burdens and excessive demands for their services as mitigating factors in their decisions to practice elsewhere. This policy monograph discusses the issues resulting in a disintegrating health system for patients with chronic illness and highlights principles of effective care for patients with chronic illness and suggests a potential strategy forward. SGIM suggests a new practice model for chronic illness—Coordinated Care—as an adjunctive principal intended to supplement the prior work of organizations like the American Council of Physicians (ACP). SGIM is extending the premise of the Advanced Medical Home set forth by ACP, and seeks only to provide detail as it applies to patient coordinated care.

The nine principles that encompass the SGIM approach will help to sustain quality and enhance the attractiveness and viability of care delivered by highly trained general internists who specialize in the provision of coordinated, longitudinal care of adult patients with acute and chronic illness. The specific components of the new model are described in terms of clinical support, medical information management (which includes new protocols for EHR critical performance standards), and access and scheduling. Additionally, this paper called for a change in the method of paying for care and calls for a mechanism to fairly reimburse physicians who provide leadership to teams that deliver high quality coordinated care.

SGIM welcomes your feedback as they work toward implementation of new initiatives.