Patient-Centered Medical Home Implementation and Use of Preventive Services

Abstract

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model of primary care has become a focus for innovation in the US health care system, with endorsements by the major primary care physician (PCP) societies¹ and support in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.² As a holistic, patient-centered, team-based model of care, the PCMH promotes access, coordination, comprehensiveness, quality, and safety.³ This model emphasizes the core primary care function of providing clinical preventive services⁴ and a comprehensive approach to care over a patient’s life course rather than focusing on episodic treatment, a specific medical issue, or a particular body system.⁵ Increased clinical preventive service use is considered a key indicator for evaluating the success of the PCMH,^6,7 and early evaluations^8-10 have shown consistent evidence of a positive association.