Tip Sheets
Patient-Centered Medical Home -- A New Approach For Primary Care Delivery (Don Diego presentation)
Panel: What's the future for primary care? (Health Journalism 2012)
Speaker: Frank Don Diego, M.D., family practitioner; academic chair, combined Floyd Medical Center Allopathic and Osteopathic Family Medicine Residencies
Panel description: The United States already has a shortage of primary care physicians in many areas. But with the Affordable Care Act set to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, will that doctor gap become a crisis? Will medical schools turn out more primary care physicians, or will the more highly compensated medical specialties continue to attract large numbers of students? Recent primary care trends include more physician use of e-mail with patients, retail clinics, pharmacists helping to manage diseases such as diabetes, as well as advanced practice nurses taking on more responsibilities and practicing in underserved areas. Private health insurers are promoting the concept of a medical home, paying those physicians more to care for patients in a comprehensive care model.