HomeWhat's New Patient-Centered Medical Home Pioneers Meet in Kansas City for Touchstone Collaborative

Patient-Centered Medical Home Pioneers Meet in Kansas City for Touchstone Collaborative

05/07/2009

Dr. David VanWinkle

The Touchstone Group, a continuation of the collaboration between TransforMED and many of the practices that participated in the Medical Home pilot National Demonstration Project (NDP), met in Kansas City March 26 through March 28, 2009. One of the purposes of the Touchstone Collaborative meeting was to create a time for these practices to share, connect, collaborate, renew and re-energize. In addition, this was an opportunity to build upon and continue the development of practice-based initiatives related to the patient-centered model of care.

At the collaborative in Kansas City, leaders from the Touchstone practices shared their experiences, challenges and successes about implementing a patient-centered medical home within their practice. Dr. Carlos Jaén, the principal investigator from the NDP independent evaluation team, gave a presentation on "Initial Lessons" from the NDP. The presentation was based on the first peer reviewed article to emerge from the project evaluation that will be published in the May/June issue of Annals of Family Medicine. The collaborative also allowed Touchstone participants to continue their peer-to-peer learning initiatives by having a number of speakers discuss topics such as changes in the payment and political landscape, patient engagement, motivational interviewing, and care management.

"No one is an expert at the patient-centered medical home but the Touchstone Group practices are as close to it as you can get," said Terry McGeeney, Chief Executive Officer of TransforMED. "The great thing about this collaborative is it wasn't required. The facilitated and self-directed practices wanted to get together to share their learnings and they continue to learn from each other every day," said McGeeney.

Participants at the Touchstone Reunion Learning Colaborative share their experiences.

Another unique part of the Touchstone Collaborative was the presence of representatives from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and The Commonwealth Fund. Responding to the concerns expressed by the members of the Touchstone Group, these representatives dialogued with the Touchstone physicians and practice representatives about their concerns for the current medical home recognition process and described criteria to enhance the recognition process. It was a great opportunity to help shape the criteria for medical home recognition and emphasize the importance of the "patient-centered" perspective.

"This really shows the power of the Touchstone Group," said Marly McMillen, Chief Operating Officer at TransforMED. "They let NCQA know that becoming a medical home isn't about simply checking off a box and NCQA listened and got involved in the conversation.  There was great feedback and recommendations from all who participated," said McMillen.

About TransforMED

The Leawood, Kan.-based TransforMED LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Established in 2005, TransforMED provides ongoing consultation and support to physicians looking to transform their practices to a new model of care that is based on the concept of a patient-centered medical home. TransforMED is an active member of primary care communities and recognizes and supports the unique value that primary care offers to patients and the health care system. TransforMED shares and supports the idealism and altruism of primary care physicians and the strong commitment to their communities and patients through continuing patient relationships and independent decision making. TransforMED offers practices both products and services, including consultation and advice on implementing the patient centered medical home model. To learn more about TransforMED, visit www.transformed.com.