Medical Home is About Patients First

When the medical home comes up for discussion, I'm reminded of an old and tired joke about hospitals that is a sly twist on the old saying, "if you've seen one, you've seen them all." Of course, you've all heard it: "If you've seen one hospital, you've seen one hospital."

In other words, they're all remarkably different in culture, how they operate, how they treat patients, what's important to them and how they survive. My story in this month's HealthLeaders magazine looks at least partly into how hospitals make the case to patients for the switch in treatment protocols. But I'm even more intrigued by how health systems and physician practices measure this important metric: How do patients perceive the various medical home philosophies out there?

No two are alike, yet the goal is the same: Get the patient, the patient's family, and the patient's caregivers to participate directly and actively in the success of their care. When you put it that way, it seems like a slam dunk.