Review patient flow pattern to be a PCMH

Q: The new healthcare law encourages the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) healthcare model. How should I adjust my practice to meet requirements for a PCMH?

A: A PCMH deals largely with communication issues between doctors about a patient, and between a patient and his or her doctor. Although not primarily a matter of the physical setting in which you practice, the layout of your space can affect your ability to create a PCMH.

Be attentive to the front-office patient flow. Do your reception and waiting areas and your intake and checkout stations make it easy for patients to identify where they must go for registration and services? Do the physical configurations of your intake and checkout areas allow for patient privacy? Do your reception and intake areas provide a place where patients can access their medical records with the necessary privacy?

Answer provided by Marisa Manley, JD, Healthcare Real Estate Advisors, New York, New York. Send your practice management questions to medec@advanstar.com Also engage at http://www.twitter.com/MedEconomics and http://www.facebook.com/MedicalEconomics.