New AAFP PCMH Site Provides Comprehensive Resources

(Source: American Academy of Family Physicians)

American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recently launched a new patient-centered medical home (PCMH) section of its Web site to make family physicians' transition to the medical home as smooth as possible.

The PCMH section of the AAFP Web site offers a varied assortment of tools to help Academy members reach their PCMH goals. The section shows a pictorial representation of the medical home, which is constructed of four building blocks atop a foundational base.

The foundation of the medical home is represented by a single block that symbolizes the specialty's core values. That is significant because family medicine is the only medical discipline dedicated to treating the whole person across the full age spectrum with a continuous and comprehensive approach to care.

Each block of the color-coded house represents a critical piece of PCMH. We encourage you to roam the virtual house and explore all of the resources within each area. The four main components of the structure are:

• Practice organization -- physician practices strive for disciplined financial management, strong staff relationships and a reliance on clinical systems that deliver high quality care
• Health information technology -- physicians use technology to run a practice that is efficient in its business, clinical and communication processes
• Quality measures -- physicians need to discover ways to enhance the quality of healthcare delivered to patients
• Patient experience -- physicians create a practice that patients embrace and choose to call their medical home. 

Dr. Bruce Bagley, AAFP's medical director of quality improvement, said the Web pages were designed to be physician-friendly and easy to navigate. Download a PCMH checklist to map your progress.