Healthcare IT News - October 2008 - (Page 32)

32 Healthcare IT News ■ October 2008 PhySIcIAN PRActIcES & AMBulAtoRy cARE www.HealthcareITNews.com Big doc practices lack medical home elements Investing in IT key to medical home. By Molly MerrIll Associate Editor BETHESDA, mD - According to a new study by the journal Health Affairs, many large physician practices lack the essential elements to create a medical home for patients to receive care. Researchers found that large medical groups (20 or more physi- cians) are lagging on key measures of what it takes to create a “medical home,” a model of healthcare delivery that emphasizes comprehensive primary care to ensure the best outcomes for patients. Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and the University of Chicago surveyed all large physician practices across the United States that treat patients with asth- ma, diabetes, congestive heart failure and depression between March 2006 and March 2007. Researchers looked at four key aspects of the medical home model: whether physicians work closely with other healthcare providers in patient care “teams”; how well care is coordinated and integrated; whether care is delivered in ways that maximize quality and safety; and whether patients can reach physicians in nontraditional ways, such as by e-mail. Researchers also looked at physicians’ use of electronic medical records, disease registries, patient reminders and performance feedback as well as their distribution of educational materials to patients. “The medical home model holds great promise for the transformation of primary care, but this transformation won’t happen overnight,” said Diane Rittenhouse, MD, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor at the UCSF School of Medicine. “Medical groups are being asked to make fundamental changes in the way they deliver care and make up-front investments in electronic systems and personnel, which are not routinely compensated.” ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: MeDICaL HoMe 1008 ● AAFP Continued from page 31 pay-for-performance. “We’re seeing an increase in the number of member requests for advice on how to leverage HIT investments,” said Mitchell. “We’ve matured to the point where we provide extremely good healthcare IT content for our members at our Jason Mitchell, MD annual conference.” As one would expect, Mitchell said many AAFP members are concerned about the “value proposition” of healthcare IT. In other words, physicians want to know whether they’re really going to get any financial return on their investment. “In truth, the value proposition isn’t quite there yet for “In truth, the value proposition isn’t quite there yet for most practices.” – Jason Mitchell, MD most practices,” Mitchell said. “Pay-for-performance and PQRI can work for some who have amenable vendors, but those programs aren’t drivers at this point.” “EMR vendors aren’t really giving us what we need,” L. Gordon Moore, MD, said in a separate session at the annual assembly. “We have to make a distinction between a robust EMR with decision support tools, and one that is just being marketed as a way to improve coding. And we really need to get out of the E&M coding game.” Mitchell also noted that the relaxation to Stark laws have not had as much of an effect on AAFP members’ use of electronic health records as some might expect. “At lot of family physicians find that hospital-chosen EHR systems don’t translate well into the family practice setting,” Mitchell said. More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: aaFP 1008 ● e ● Connect: aLLLSCrIPtS 1008 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10088 http://www.allscripts.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10079 http://www.allscripts.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=10096

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Healthcare IT News - October 2008 Contents Seattle's Slate Board 2.0 MGMA Newsmaker IT Battles Infection Beyond Adoption Excellence in Maine Carrot and Stick HP Layoffs Mobile Workstations Automating Offices

Healthcare IT News - October 2008

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