Last week, Matt Adamson, vice president of MEDecision’s Interoperability Competency Center joined Dr. Joe Nicholson, Chief Medical Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma to conduct two outstanding sessions at the IDC Health IT Insight Summit conference held in Savannah entitled “Using Technology to Facilitate the Medical Home.” They presented a case study of a patient centered medical home pilot project BCBSOK and MEDecision are currently working on for Oklahoma. Matt and Dr. Nicholson provided excellent insights on the details of the initiative, particularly the obstacles that may have to be overcome in planning and execution, and an insightful analysis of its anticipated benefits.
The presentation was met with great enthusiasm by those in attendance which I think is due in large part to the role that the medical home model is anticipated to play in supporting health care reform efforts. The concept has clearly been gaining significant traction and momentum over the past year or two and, as the MEDecision/BCBSOK pilot exemplifies, has outstanding potential to bring increased efficiencies and cost containment to the system. As Matt and Dr. Nicholson explained, incorporating technology into the equation makes the model even more promising. In addition to facilitating more streamlined communication between care team members, IT will give each care provider consistent access to actionable clinical data along with the ability to input information generated from ongoing patient interactions that can help streamline reporting and tracking for quality assurance measures. The existence of clinical decision support and structured disease management programs will improve quality and foster better outcomes.
The patient centered medical home model of care is a foundational approach to positively transforming health care delivery. As the MEDecision/BCBCSOK pilot progresses, we will update you on how leveraging technology augments efficiency, effectiveness and quality outcomes. It will definitely be worth keeping an eye on this particular pilot project and the overall progress of the medical home concept in the coming months.
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