Table 2

Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home

  1. Personal physician — each patient has an ongoing relationship with a personal physician trained to provide first contact, continuous and comprehensive care

  2. Physician-directed medical practice — the personal physician leads a team of individuals at the practice level who collectively take responsibility for the ongoing care of patients

  3. Whole-person orientation — the personal physician is responsible for providing for all the patient’s health care needs or taking responsibility for appropriately arranging care with other qualified professionals. This includes care for all stages of life; acute care; chronic care; preventive services; and end of life care…

  4. Care is coordinated and/or integrated across all elements of the complex health care system and the patient’s community

  5. Quality and safety are hallmarks of the medical home…

  6. Enhanced access to care is available through systems such as open scheduling, expanded hours and new options for communication …

  7. Payment appropriately recognizes the added value provided to patients who have a patient-centered medical home…

  • From the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative.2