Patient-Centered Medical Home. Closing the Quality Gap: Revisiting the State of the Science. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment Number 208. Executive Summary.

摘要

The United States spends a greater proportion of its gross domestic product on health care than any other country in the world (17.6 percent in 2009), yet often fails to provide high-quality and efficient health care. U.S. health care has traditionally been based on a solid foundation of primary care to meet the majority of preventive, acute, and chronic health care needs of its population; however, the recent challenges facing health care in the United States have been particularly magnified within the primary care setting. Access to primary care is limited in many areas, particularly rural communities. Fewer U.S. physicians are choosing primary care as a profession, and satisfaction among primary care physicians has waned amid the growing demands of office-based practice. There has been growing concern that current models of primary care will not be sustainable for meeting the broad health care needs of the American population. The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a model of primary care transformation that seeks to meet the variety of health care needs of patients and to improve patient and staff experiences, outcomes, safety, and system efficiency