Views and Voices

John H. Houk, M.D.

Physician Leader, HMSA Patient-Centered Medical Home Pilot Project

The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a method of providing care involving a team led by an individual's personal physician to provide comprehensive, coordinated and accessible care.

I want all of my patients to understand the concept of a medical home. When they have a medical question, they go to that medical home first. That is their primary source to get answers and to access the health care system.

Both my patients with chronic conditions as well as healthy patients are benefitting from the medical home. I've set up reminder systems in the office for patients who need vaccinations, cholesterol monitoring, blood pressure monitoring, or consultations with specialists. This allows me to monitor the care I provide to all my patients. It also eliminates gaps in care and helps achieve appropriate prevention strategies.

Physicians alone cannot deliver the PCMH. A successful PCMH depends on a health care system that enables us to adopt robust, integrated electronic health records, and a compensation system that rewards primary care physicians appropriately for comprehensive, coordinated care.

I appreciate HMSA's support for this pilot project, because this is an important step in improving our health care delivery system.