(Medical) Home for the Holidays

There are so many Holiday sayings, but if there is one wish as we prepare to leave 2009 and enter 2010— it is that primary care practices continue to work on ensuring that all patients in this country have access to a Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH).  As we know, PCMH implies extensive transformative change throughout the entire culture of a practice.  One of the most critical pieces of transformation and one that is going to require serious attention in the coming months is the appropriate preparation, selection, implementation and adoption of Health Information Technology within a practice.  With Healthcare Reform and the HIT Economic Stimulus, providers and practices will need to be well-informed to make some very critical and important decisions.

The challenge is that physicians and those involved in the practice of medicine are not experts in PCMH or Health IT.  To meet the goal of meaningful use adoption within a practice, they often reach out to experts and consultants to answer their questions and give them some direction.  What has become quite evident in recent weeks is that all consultants are not created equal and many "flavor of the month" consultants are putting themselves out there as experts in practice transformation, while clearly they are not.

This became quite evident to me recently when a physician on a webinar stated she was told by a consultant not to purchase any Health IT solutions until 2011!  This could not be further from the truth.  PCMH is now.  Healthcare Reform is now.  The improved health and needs of our patients are now. 

The Office of National Coordinator (ONC) has clearly stated that practices will need to show evidence of "meaningful use" to qualify for future reimbursement.  David Blumenthal has consistently said that practice transformation needs to accompany successful HIT selection, preparation and implementation.  These things do not occur overnight.  PCMH transformation and HIT implementation is a journey and it is a journey that should begin now so when the "meaningful use" parameters are finally established at the end of this year, practices are ready to move forward as money is on the table.  For practices to wait until 2011 would be a mistake of epic proportions for all of the stakeholders in our current health care system.  We indeed need to commit to a "Medical Home for the Holidays" by taking meaningful steps towards practice transformation and the improved health of our patients now. 

The first meaningful step may be self-education — connecting with trusted sources for Health IT information.  Certainly TransforMED's web site and the TransforMED Medical Home Marketplace should be on the short list.  TransforMED has collaborated with reputable companies such as Welch Allyn to provide practices with a powerful tool to assess HIT needs and to prepare and select an electronic health record (EHR).  You can learn more about the EHR Prep-Select tool on the TransforMED web site, as well. Other professional associations such as the American Academy of Family Physicians with its AAFP Center for HIT should also be a resource.

TransforMED has also teamed up with with the American Medical Association (AMA) and will be offering a series of free, educational Health IT webinars beginning in January.  You can register for that webinar series on the TransforMED homepage as well.  MGMA has published TranforMED's PCMH Workbook Series to educate physicians about the Patient Centered Medical Home and the business of medicine.  The Delta Exchange and the "Ask the Experts" zone can be another powerful resource for practices just getting started on their HIT preparation, selection and implementation journey.

When it comes to making decisions with major implications for a practice, "flavor of the month" is not OK.  Practice transformation, health care reform and HIT are very complex and constantly changing arenas that require some direction.  The professional associations are expending significant resources to stay informed to support and represent their members and TransforMED is involved at multiple levels from HIT, Healthcare Reform, payers through multiple pilots, employers, educators, practicing physicians, patients and the multitude of vendors and products that are coming on the scene. 

TransforMED was created by the American Academy of Family Physicians to assist practices in meaningful transformation to support the current needs of our patients and the US health care system.  If we had two wishes for the Holidays one would certainly be "Peace on Earth" and the other should be a "Medical Home for All".