Effect of Primary Health Care Orientation on Chronic Care Management
Ann Fam Med Schmittdiel et al.
4: 117
The Article in Brief
Background Chronic illness is a major health crisis in the United States, and evidence suggests there is a great need to improve the quality of chronic illness care. One way to improve chronic illness care may be to emphasize comprehensive, coordinated primary care. This study examines whether medical practices and groups that are oriented toward providing primary care also demonstrate features of the Chronic Care Model, a widely-recognized model that identifies elements of health care that encourage effective care of chronic illnesses.
What This Study Found Medical practices and groups that have 6 core features of primary care, representing comprehensive health service delivery and a commitment to overall patient health, also have more features of the Chronic Care Model.
Implications
- These findings support the need for patients to have a primary care ˇ§homeˇ¨ to strengthen management of chronic care illness.
- Efforts by policy makers and payers to increase medical organizations’ focus on primary care may improve chronic illness care.
