By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    An Expert’s Guide To Building and Improving Endurance
    June 30, 2022
    medical assistants
    What Do Medical Assistants Do On a Day to Day Basis?
    April 5, 2022
    superfoods to help with prostate health
    10 Healthy Foods That Can Help Protect Your Prostate
    August 29, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    med school graduates
    4 Barriers to Private Practice for Med School Graduates
    February 6, 2015
    Hospital Mortality Rates
    Preventable Mortality Down in Hospitals by 17%
    December 16, 2014
    apple.jpg
    Why Medical Marketers Should Use Patient Education as a Strategic Advantage
    October 28, 2017
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: The PCMH and Home Care Data: An Interview with Melissa McCormack
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > The PCMH and Home Care Data: An Interview with Melissa McCormack
BusinesseHealthHealth ReformHospital AdministrationMedical DevicesMedical InnovationsMedical RecordsMobile HealthPublic HealthTechnology

The PCMH and Home Care Data: An Interview with Melissa McCormack

eCaring
Last updated: December 19, 2013 9:00 am
eCaring
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Model is a new approach which seeks to enhance care coordination and community-based care.

To learn more about how health care data fits into the PCMH model and how the new approach will help seniors, we spoke with PCMH specialist Melissa McCormack of Software Advice, a source for medical systems comparisons.

More Read

Fecal DNA for Colon Cancer Screening and Cleaner Sidewalks: Which Matters More?
Innovating The Nurse Practitioner Role in Chronic Disease Management
OCR Cloud Computing HIPAA Guidance
Florida Appeals Court Sets Date for Arguments Surrounding Reform Law’s Constitutionality
Building Telemedicine System: Features and Tips

How does home care fit into the PCMH model? 

The PCMH model is all about putting the patient at the center of care. Under traditional fee-for-service models, doctors have no incentive to follow their patient’s health outside of the office, because they receive no compensation for doing so. But the PCMH model rewards doctors for keeping their patients healthy, which incentivizes them to monitor their patients’ health not just in the office, but at home, too. 

Today there are systems like eCaring that allow doctors and care managers to monitor a patient’s care at home, in real-time and send data to everyone involved. This helps doctors follow their patients’ health outside of the office, not just during whatever health crises brings them into the doctor’s office. Since patients tend to spend the vast majority of their time outside the doctor’s office, these types of tools give doctors a more complete, timely picture of a patient’s health.

 

How does PCMH serve to improve care for the elderly and people with chronic conditions?

People with chronic conditions see a huge amount of value from the PCMH model of care – and that includes the elderly, because they tend to have more chronic conditions than the young (and often multiple chronic conditions). A main tenet of the PCMH is to coordinate care across all providers involved in treating a patient. An elderly patient might have a primary care doctor, plus a few specialists, plus maybe emergency room visits – lots of fragmentation among the people delivering their care. The PCMH model makes the primary care physician the “coach,” and incentives the PCP to coordinate with all other providers so that nothing slips through the cracks. Technology helps streamline communication between providers and ensure they’re all on the same page, instead of each working from their own playbook. For example, if Betty Smith misses her appointment with her cardiologist, her PCP is alerted, and someone from her PCP’s office may call Betty to find out what’s going on.

What benefit does having real-time home care data have for advancing PCMH?

Simply put, the more data a doctor has, the clearer his or her picture of a patient’s health is. Take our example of Betty Smith. Let’s say she has hypertension. If she can transmit her blood pressure in real-time, from home, to her doctor on a regular basis, her doctor may be able to pick out patterns. Maybe her blood pressure is higher at a certain time of day, and he can ask questions to identify possible triggers. Additionally, he can notice trends over time and intervene more quickly. Maybe her real-time data shows a slow-but-steady rise in blood pressure. Rather than wait until her next scheduled office visit, the doctor or someone from the doctor’s office could contact Betty to intervene as soon as they notice a problem, which could save her a trip to the emergency room.

In general, how does technology aid care coordination especially for the elderly and those with chronic conditions?

Perhaps most importantly, technology simplifies the communication that needs to happen between the providers involved in patient care. Rather than having to fax over paperwork and manually keep track of when a patient is due for what, technology can enable seamless sharing of patient records and medical history, medication lists, and other important details. It can also trigger alerts (such as alerting a primary care doctor when a patient misses a visit with a specialist). And, it can allow providers to collect and quickly analyze data to identify trends over time, which is especially helpful when following a patient with an ongoing health concern – i.e., a chronic condition.

 

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

telemedicine
eHealthMedical InnovationsMobile HealthTechnology

There’s No Difference Between mHealth and Telemedicine [VIDEO]

May 12, 2014

3 Doctor’s Telemedicine Questions Answered

July 18, 2016

e-Patients, Quantified Self and Self-Efficacy; Self-Monitoring Through Technology

November 7, 2011

Three Aims of CMS & Well-Managed Healthcare Organizations

April 11, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?