Involving the Entire Care Team in the Patient-Centered Medical Home

By Kurt Elward, MD, MPH Family and Internal MedicineDirector for Quality Initiatives Medical Society of Virginia Foundation

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One of the most crucial factors in successfully implementing the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model is involving every member of your care team in the transformation.

Here are a few tips on how you can engage your staff in the PCMH.

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Ask for ideas

A PCMH kick-off meeting is a great way to communicate your vision, get feedback, and listen to the thoughts and concerns of your staff.

It’s also an opportunity to identify the ways that your practice has already been meeting medical home criteria and which processes need modification.

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In many healthcare systems, top-down change is the standard model.

But in a PCMH, there’s a real opportunity to take into consideration every voice on your care team.

Ask for ideas

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This kind of bottom-up change is very

powerful in not only establishing a new

approach in the practice, but also in helping

the staff feel more in control of the

changes that you’re making to the practice.

Ask for ideas

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Identify the strengths of your staff and find ways to incorporate new PCMH roles into existing roles. Is there someone in your office who is meticulous and loves gathering data?

This person could be tasked with registering patient data into an electronic health record so the entire staff has access to the information.

As an added benefit, now your medical assistant can concentrate on what he or she does best, like clinical evaluations or health maintenance screenings, instead of data entry.  

Identify staff strengths

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Designate a PCMH Champion

Great leaders have people around them who share their goals and aspirations.

Select a “PCMH champion” from your staff (or several, if in a large practice) to help communicate goals and assignments.

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Your staff will follow your example. Your positive energy

and attitude is critical in setting an example for the medical

home. You’ll find that when you and other doctors display a

positive attitude throughout the day, the staff will respond to

your energy.

Set the tone

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• The journey to PCMH status requires a fundamental shift from physician-based care to team-centered care.

• Staff roles and workflows will change. A new culture will emerge. It’s important to engage your entire team throughout the process to make them feel invested in the changes.

• By doing so you’ll not only build a better PCMH,you’ll also build a better team.

Set the tone