The New England chapter of HIMSS conducted a conference on health information technology a few weeks ago. One of the speakers was Dr. David Howes, president and CEO of Martin’s Point Health Care which, according to its Web site, “is a diverse health care company that offers both health plans and primary care.” The upshot of Dr. Howes’ talk was the growth of the medical home concept and the crucial role that health IT will play in its success.
This is something we’ve discussed several times right here on this blog in recent months. It’s actually quite satisfying to see it echoed by someone else within the industry in an important public forum. Dr. Howes pointed out the importance of changing the delivery of healthcare and noted that real change must originate in the primary health care system. That, of course, is where the medical home comes into play and can have the biggest impact. And, given the criteria the NCQA has established for the medical home concept — quality, safety, enhanced access and coordinated care — the use of advanced technology is going to be essential.
As Dr. Howes pointed out, IT can support the medical home concept by offering a single source of information that can be electronically shared by various stakeholders. It can also ensure better communication and increased safety. And when you add in things like clinical decision support, e-prescribing and having a more complete and consistent view of a patient’s medical situation, it’s a no-brainer that IT stands to make a major impact on medical home initiatives. Kudos to Dr. Howes for bringing the issue to light.
The medical home has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. It will be most interesting to see where it goes — and to see the impact IT has on its development — over the next few months.
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