This implementation guide from the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative provides guidance on how practices can provide patient-centered care 24 hours a day/7 days a week by increasing capacity, decreasing unnecessary demand, providing patient- and family-centered scheduling options, and ensuring that all patients have access to care, regardless of their ability to pay. For many patients, expanded access requires that their health care providers take a proactive role in assisting patients in understanding, enrolling in, and appropriately utilizing health insurance coverage.
The Safety Net Medical Home Initiative is funded by The Commonwealth Fund and eight other funders, with technical assistance from Qualis Health and the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation at the Group Health Research Institute. The initiative is working with five regional coordinating centers, which are each supporting the implementation of patient-centered medical homes in over a dozen safety net clinics.
Additional resources on this change concept are available from the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative website.
Ignatius Bau 