To the Editor:
I read the Clinical Watch article “The PCMH: A model for primary care,” published in September 2009. Every time I attend a CME event that touts the benefits of the PCMH (patient-centered medical home), I wonder:
How is this different from the “gatekeeper” mentality of the HMO era? In philosophy or what?
I work in an UC/ED in rural, northern Wisconsin. I'd love for patients to be able to go to their primary care provider. But, it takes at least a week to get an appointment.
I know I have been doing this job for too long because I no longer have even the slightest pretense that the patient will actually follow my advice. So, now I am poorly reimbursed because I won't go home with the patient, fix their meals, and pry their butts off the couch so they can get some exercise.
I'd like to say this sounds good, even great. Unfortunately, it sounds like new verbiage but no real solutions.
Penny Cornelius, PA-C