Join Your Colleagues for the PCMH Collaborative at the Executive Leadership Series
By Chris Valerian, DO, MMM – Executive Medical Director, Health Integrated

I am going to take a break from rigors of healthcare reform for this posting.  From my last entry, I am hopeful you were able to gain some insights as this critical debate continues.  I really encourage each of you to share last week’s posting with your colleagues, friends and family.  In particular, forward the HR 3200 bill itself – although challenging to read, there are many available summaries online although most support one political view or the other.  Given this, you might consider reading the bill and drawing your own conclusions.  Here is the link to the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment[1] , viewed by many as an objective review, which you may find useful.  It is also available as a download below. (more…)

Will PCMH be used as the Centerpiece of Healthcare Reform?
By Chris Valerian, DO, MMM – Executive Medical Director, Health Integrated

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve no doubt been keeping up with the debate in Washington and across the country on healthcare reform.  Politics aside, with all of the pro and con arguments it is difficult to decipher the real proposal and even more difficult to project what both the healthcare and financial effects might be.  I was able to spend some time reviewing the HR 3200 that is currently being discussed – all 1018 pages[1].  Now I have to admit that I didn’t read the bill in its entirety, but I tried to focus most on the sections that concerned the PCMH and how it was positioned within the bill.

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How about Patient Considerations in your PCMH Strategy
By Chris Valerian, DO, MMM – Executive Medical Director, Health Integrated 

As I mentioned last week, the physician is the key component to driving the success of any PCMH.  The doctor is the one that has to identify, convince, manage and change the behaviors of the patient to improve health outcomes.  These efforts need to be planned meticulously and executed flawlessly to get the best results.  There is no question how important the physician and the supporting network are in establishing and successfully running a PCMH.  That said, it really is all about the patient – and we all know that this may be one of the biggest challenges of all. (more…)