ABSTRACT
The health care system in the United States is inefficient and there are many incentives for sustainable changes in the delivery of care. Incorporating behavioral medicine offers a wide range of opportunities. Within primary care settings, pain disorders, addiction, depression, and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent. Numerous chronic health conditions also require behavioral support for lifestyle change. These disorders are optimally managed through interdisciplinary collaborations that include a behavioral medicine component. This article discusses the effective integration of behavioral medicine within a primary care patient-centered medical home and describes the organizational planning and structure required for success.
Subject(s)
Behavioral Medicine/organization & administration , Delivery of Health Care, Integrated , Primary Health Care/organization & administration , Binge Drinking/rehabilitation , Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry) , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/therapy , Middle Aged , Pain Management , Schizophrenia, Paranoid/rehabilitation , Substance-Related Disorders/therapy , United StatesABSTRACT
Improving patient care outcomes is achieved through communication, collaboration, and coordination of care between various health care professionals in all health care practice settings. The foundation of this patient-centered model approach includes the recognition of pharmacists as drug therapy experts and, therefore, as members of the health care team who provide a unique set of knowledge and skills. This article focuses on improving clinical outcomes by integrating clinical pharmacists into health care teams, and addresses the obstacles and solutions to achieving this goal.
Subject(s)
Comprehensive Health Care/organization & administration , Patient Care Team/organization & administration , Pharmacists/organization & administration , Pharmacy Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Quality Improvement , Comprehensive Health Care/economics , Electronic Prescribing , Health Plan Implementation/economics , Health Plan Implementation/organization & administration , Humans , Insurance, Health, Reimbursement , Medication Adherence , Medication Errors/prevention & control , Patient Care Team/economics , Pharmacists/economics , Pharmacy Service, Hospital/economics , United StatesABSTRACT
This article outlines the regulatory movement propelling physicians into the electronic health record environment and the subsequent emergence of quality issues in the medical record. There are benefits and downside risks for implementing electronic health records as part of the desire of a practice or institution to build patient-centered medical homes. The intersection of how a practice or institution collects and reports quality metrics using health information technology and subsequently submits claims for services rendered has created unforeseen challenges for which leadership must be aware and address proactively.
Subject(s)
Accountable Care Organizations , Documentation , Electronic Health Records , Insurance Claim Reporting , Practice Management, Medical , Current Procedural Terminology , Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act , Humans , Quality Indicators, Health Care , United StatesABSTRACT
After identifying many unlicensed Hispanic international medical graduates (IMGs) legally residing in southern California, University of California, Los Angeles developed an innovative program to prepare these sidelined physicians to enter family medicine residency programs and become licensed physicians. On completion of a 3-year family medicine residency-training program, these IMGs have an obligation to practice in a federally designated underserved community in the state for 2 to 3 years. As the US health care system moves from physician-centered practices to patient-focused teams, with primary care serving as the foundation for building patient-centered medical homes, attention to educating IMGs in these concepts is crucial.
