Patient Centered Medical Home Designations, October 2016

Congratulations to The Physician Alliance (TPA) primary care practices that were designated as patient- centered medical homes by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. A patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a type of care model that transforms the delivery of primary care to children, adolescents and adults.

Physician practices that are designated as a PCMH pursue innovative new care delivery methods, technologies, and relationships with patients and their families. Join us as we celebrate 132 physician practices, representing 355 primary care physicians that earned this prestigious designation!

Through PCMH, primary care physicians form integrated partnerships with other physicians, health care providers and patients to coordinate enhanced access to care. Within this medical home model, practices seek to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the care they deliver to patients while addressing each patient’s preferences and needs.

Physician practices advocate for their patients by seeking out optimum patient-centered outcomes driven by care planning processes that include compassionate care along with facilitated partnerships among physicians, patients, and the patient's family. Research shows that primary care matters in regards to access, cost, and quality. Patients who have an ongoing relationship with their primary care provider have better outcomes and lower costs.

When care is effectively managed by a primary care physician in an outpatient setting, patients who have chronic conditions incur less complications, leading to fewer avoidable hospitalizations. There is increasing data supporting the positive benefits of this medical home care model. Physician practices that become a patient centered medical home benefit patients across the care continuum through improved quality of care and patient experience.

**Checkout The Physician Alliance website for the 2016 list of PCMH physician practices.

This blog is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Please consult your doctor for more information or if you have a medical concern.

Contributed by The Physician Alliance. A physician organization representing more than 2,200 primary care and specialty physicians in southeast Michigan.

Sources: The American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics.