Washington -- Four physician membership organizations today released "Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PC-MH)."
The four groups the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) represent some 333,000 physicians. The pediatricians, family physicians, internists and osteopathic physicians represented by the four organizations provide the vast majority of primary care services to children, adolescents, and adult patients in the United States.
"The AOA is honored to join with these groups in support of these principles. The fact that the organizations representing a majority of the nation's primary care physicians have unified behind these principles, signals our belief that, if implemented, the PC-MH will improve the health of patients and the viability of the health care delivery system," said John Strosnider, D.O., president of the American Osteopathic Association. "These principles represent a set of reforms that we believe would strengthen the physician-patient relationship and improve the overall health of all patients. Additionally, the PC-MH would improve the quality of health care, increase efficiency through care coordination, and reduce overall health care spending."
The set of seven principles describes the characteristics of a practice-based care model for providing comprehensive primary care for children, youth and adults in a health care setting. The PC-MH facilitates partnerships between individual patients and their personal physicians and when appropriate the patients family. The Joint Principles define the following key characteristics of the PC-MH:
Personal physician - each patient has an ongoing relationship with a personal physician trained to provide first contact, continuous and comprehensive care.
Physician directed medical practi
'"/>
Contact: David Kinsman
dkinsman@acponline.org
202-261-4554
American College of Physicians
5-Mar-2007