Healthcare providers are increasingly looking toward electronic health records (EHR) as a means to improve quality while reducing costs. Experts say that an interconnected, national network of medical professionals could revolutionize the way that care is provided.
However, simply purchasing new devices and installing new software likely won't be enough to deliver on this promise. Technology will need to be deployed in an intelligent way that truly enables providers to deliver the highest quality of care possible without spending extra time and money on unnecessary tasks.
One mode of care that providers and lawmakers are increasingly looking to is the patient centered medical home. This concept encourages medical professionals to use technology to coordinate care among various providers.
The primary care physician is used as the center of a patient's care. From here this doctor will coordinate care with specialists, track treatments at emergency care facilities and generally oversee all aspects of their patients' care.
This model of care is still growing. It was only introduced a few years ago. However, in that time, a number of organizations have made moves to implement patient centered medical homes. When paired with the financial incentives being offered by the government, there may be a number of reasons why providers would want to adopt EHRs and look toward being part of a patient centered medical home.
While there are few of these networks currently existing, providers are increasingly adopting networking technology that will allow them to connect to other doctors. For example, a recent survey of Connecticut healthcare providers, which was published in the journal Connecticut Medicine, found that many of the state's doctors are laying the groundwork necessary for participating in a patient centered medical home.
A total of 57 percent of those surveyed said that they are currently using open access scheduling software. This may enable primary care providers to more easily schedule appointments for their patients with specialists. Additionally, 39 percent are using EHRs and 33 percent have registries of their patients who have chronic diseases.
Patients who are chronically ill due to diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease require extensive care among several types of providers. Using registries to share the EHRs generated from all of their visits may help prevent duplicate testing and allow medical professionals to collaborate to ensure they are delivering the best care possible.
While there are still some hurdles preventing full-scale adoption of patient centered medical homes, the report's authors expressed optimism that a solid base is being constructed, from which providers may be able to embrace the model of care.
"These results reveal that the adoption of the medical home among Connecticut primary-care physicians remains in its infancy," the authors wrote. "Some key elements, such as open access scheduling, patient registries, and EHRs, are commonly used by primary-care physicians in the state."
To help speed the adoption of patient centered medical homes, insurers are increasingly providing incentives to healthcare professionals that may make it easier for them to join or start one of these health networks.
For example, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Tennessee recently announced a partnership with 15 physician practice groups to create the state's largest patient centered medical home. The partnership will use EHRs to coordinate care for more than 25,000 patients across 31 different sites.
The move proves that the benefits of patient centered medical homes are not limited to the patients. Insurers are very interested in reducing their costs, and are beginning to see the care model as one potential for accomplishing this.
Officials said that by promoting efficiency and paying providers for improving quality rather than for the quantity of procedures they produce, all of healthcare's stakeholders win.