THE FAMILY DOCTOR: A REMEDY FOR HEAITH-CARE COSTS?

摘要

The primary-care doctor is gaining new re -rnspect in Washington. Battles may be breakingrnout left and right over the various health- carernbills emerging from Congress, but reformersrnon both sides agree that general practitioners should be given a central role in uniting the fragmented U.S. medical system. This vision has a name: the "patient-centered medical home." The "home" is the office of a primary-care doctor where patients would go for most of their medical needs. The general practitioner would oversee everything from flu shots to chronic disease management to weight loss, and coordinate care with nurses, pharmacists, and specialists. A 2004 study estimated that if every patient had such a home, the resulting efficiencies might reduce U.S. health-rncare costs by 5.6%, a savings of $67 billion a year.