Study: PCMH model will demand more primary care physicians
Provisions of new federal healthcare reforms will move the country toward a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model, but the nation may not have enough primary care doctors to handle the workload, according to a study by the University of Michigan Health System published online ahead of print in the journal Medical Care.
Shifting patients to a medical home care model could save time and money and allow specialists to focus on complex patient care, according to the study, in which researchers examined the implications of redistributing the chronic disease care workload between specialists and primary care physicians under a PCMH model of care.
Specialists spend a significant amount of time handling routine follow-up care for patients with chronic conditions that might be more cost-effectively delegated to primary care physicians. But redistributing half that workload could require either thousands of new primary care doctors or an extra three weeks of work annually from primary care physicians in the current workforce, the study found.
The PCMH model shifts emphasis from volume of patients under a fee-for-service model to rewarding quality of outcomes using performance measures. The model calls for primary care doctors to coordinate and manage their patients’ medical care across multiple locations and settings. Cost savings are created by delegating less complex aspects of care.
The approach, a tenet of the recent healthcare reform legislation, is a way to address the current fragmentation and inefficiencies in the healthcare delivery system, the authors say.
According to the study, specialists spend a significant amount of time each year—more than 650,000 work weeks collectively—on routine follow-up care for patients with common chronic conditions, such as asthma, diabetes or low back pain. Delegating a proportion of this care could create systemwide efficiencies by freeing up specialists to concentrate on new patients and those with complex conditions.
Shifting patients to a medical home care model could save time and money and allow specialists to focus on complex patient care, according to the study, in which researchers examined the implications of redistributing the chronic disease care workload between specialists and primary care physicians under a PCMH model of care.
Specialists spend a significant amount of time handling routine follow-up care for patients with chronic conditions that might be more cost-effectively delegated to primary care physicians. But redistributing half that workload could require either thousands of new primary care doctors or an extra three weeks of work annually from primary care physicians in the current workforce, the study found.
The PCMH model shifts emphasis from volume of patients under a fee-for-service model to rewarding quality of outcomes using performance measures. The model calls for primary care doctors to coordinate and manage their patients’ medical care across multiple locations and settings. Cost savings are created by delegating less complex aspects of care.
The approach, a tenet of the recent healthcare reform legislation, is a way to address the current fragmentation and inefficiencies in the healthcare delivery system, the authors say.
According to the study, specialists spend a significant amount of time each year—more than 650,000 work weeks collectively—on routine follow-up care for patients with common chronic conditions, such as asthma, diabetes or low back pain. Delegating a proportion of this care could create systemwide efficiencies by freeing up specialists to concentrate on new patients and those with complex conditions.