Medical Home Approach to Healthcare — What our future should be

The polarizing health care bill has many Americans up in arms over how health care should be paid for, and how it should be carried out. While you have two sides on opposing ends playing tug-of-war, the majority of us are somewhere caught in the middle, not knowing what to expect. We think we know, but we may be wrong once this health bill passes or doesn’t pass. However, one thing is clear — no matter what happens, costs will skyrocket as more and more people get sicker and sicker. President Obama, whether you agree with his policies or not, stressed the importance of preventive medicine during his election bid to the presidency. It seems that some medical clinics are now falling suit.

MSNBC recently published a story on “Medical Homes” and it would seem that we are getting a possible glimpse of our health care future.

Doctor’s Office or Medical Home?

What exactly is a medical home? It’s just a concept really. It’s still your doctor’s office but it’s a different approach to care. The reality is that right now, focus is on treating illnesses. Doctors are responsible for making sure that the patient gets the necessary treatments and prescriptions for whatever is ailing them. However, with the medical home approach, primary care doctors work with other staff to form a care plan that includes preventative medicine—that is, making sure that patients are counseled, treated, and referred to specialists who then will help them prevent (hopefully) further complications of their disease or injury.

Instead of waiting until the illness gets worse, the illness is treated as much as possible and then the patient is educated on keeping staff and their doctors up-to-date on their illness and by following the instructions they are given to help them get better. Hindsight is 20/20 but I think that if my dad had taken better care of himself and seen doctors earlier on for his illness, he probably would be fairly healthy today instead of relying on several prescriptions to sustain him. I can say the same about our mom. Her diabetes could have been prevented and her dementia slowed down a lot sooner.

Given that, this type of preventative medicine could end up saving money — at least in theory for now. As more and more medical establishments adopt this progress we’ll be able to see what rewards both health and monetary gains will provide.

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