A policy paper providing proposals for resolving some of the major problems with the health care system in America was released today by The American College of Physicians (ACP) at its annual report on "The State of the Nation's Health Care."
"The Advanced Medical Home: A Patient-Centered, Physician-Guided Model of Health Care," proposes a fundamental change in the way that principal - or primary care - is delivered and financed.
"ACP proposals would provide patients with access to care that is coordinated by their own personal physician," explained C. Anderson Hedberg, ACP president.
The paper recommends voluntary certification and recognition of primary care and specialty medical practices that use health information technology, quality measurement and reporting, patient-friendly scheduling systems and other "best practices" to deliver better value and improve care coordination for patients, especially those with multiple chronic illnesses.
Primary care physicians would be responsible for partnering with their patients to assure that all of their health care is managed and coordinated effectively.
The paper calls for fundamental changes in third party financing, reimbursement, coding and coverage policies to support practices that qualify as advanced medical homes.
Read more from this post.
