What Patients are Saying About the Medical Home

Patients value having a relationship with a primary care physician who knows their history, their family’s history and can make informed decisions about their care. Primary care physicians can provide most of what patients need right in their clinics.

When a patient needs a referral, primary care physicians can guide them to the right physician and give the specialist the patient history and diagnostic results necessary to ensure quality and efficiency through the transition.

A good medical home can be the compass that helps people navigate the complex American health care system, and patients appreciate having a trusted professional to guide them.

Why do we need a medical home?

In today’s complex and confusing health care system, patients only receive the proper, recommended care about half of the time. Despite having access to the world’s most technologically advanced treatments, we often don’t get high-quality care. Yet we spend more on health care than any other nation. In fact, ever-climbing health care costs weaken our economy and make it difficult for American businesses to compete in the global marketplace.

Researchers have found time and again that in areas where more of the care is provided by primary care physicians, patients receive better, more coordinated care at lower costs. Nations with health systems that cost less and outperform the U.S. system have a strong primary care foundation on which the rest of their system depends. To reform our health care system so we will get better care for less cost, we have to strengthen primary care in America. We need to make sure that all Americans have access to a patient-centered medical home where they can receive well-coordinated and comprehensive primary care.

What is the Patient-Centered Medical Home?

What patients say about the Patient-Centered Medical Home.