ACP tells Congress: Pilot test patient-centered me...( (Washington) -- Medicare should pilot ...),Health

(Washington) -- Medicare should pilot test a patient-centered medical home, Lynne Kirk, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), today told a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. She urged Congress to direct Medicare to institute the new model of financing and delivering care.

"The problem is Medicare payments do not support us as we try to organize our practices to help patients prevent complications that can lead to hospitalization," Dr. Kirk, a general internist and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, told the subcommittee.

ACP is the largest specialty society in the U. S., representing 120,000 internal medicine physicians and medical students. More Medicare patients count on internists for their care than any other type of physician.

"Medicare will pay for an office visit or procedure," Dr Kirk pointed out. "But it will not reimburse for the time I spend following up with my patients on recommended self-management plans or for coordinating care among a team of health professionals. It will not reimburse for use of health information technologies that will enable me to track and improve the care I provide."

Using graphics, Dr. Kirk illustrated that health care managed by a patient's personal physician can achieve better outcomes at lower costs. She also noted 10 clinical conditions where "effective diagnosis, treatment, and patient education can help control the exacerbation of an illness and prevent or delay complications of chronic illness, thus reducing hospitalizations."

The American Academy of Family Physicians recently joined ACP in describing the key elements of a patient-centered medical home (PC-MH). The four-part PC-MH will create incentives for each patient to have a relationship with a personal physician trained to provide first contact, continuous and comprehensiv
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Contact: David Kinsman
dkinsman@acponline.org
202-261-4554
American College of Physicians
27-Jul-2006