Dr. Joseph Humphry, Co-Principal Investigator, PBTRC, gave a presentation entitled “The Patient Centered Medical Home Health Outcomes Optimization” at the Utah Promontory Health Information Exchange and Technology Conference, 2011 sponsored by the Utah Department of Health on June 22, 2011.
The conclusions of his presentation were:
- Chronic care needs to be delivered at home by a virtual team supported by health information technology designed to optimize health outcomes
- Electronic health records (EHRs) / electronic medical records (EMRs) are designed to document visits and vendors sell products to enhance revenue. They are not designed to support improved care.
- The health care system requires a basic change in culture to improve health outcomes and the changes will come from the community, not the government. Meaningful use and the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) may provide more distraction than assistance to an improvement in health outcomes.
- Telehealth is not mentioned or supported through meaningful use or the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH). The question needs to be asked if we can provide quality care without Telehealth.
The Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center is available to discuss the future of telehealth and what is needed today to allow improved care tomorrow.