Currently patient delivery relies upon an unreliable system formed from poorly integrated and highly variable human parts. To deliver superior patient experiences, professionals need to make changes in what they do and how they do it. In addition, all caregivers must think of themselves as part of a team delivering care rather than a sole actor in a series of clinical handoffs.

Porter, Pabo, and Lee in an article in Health Affairs presented some very innovative ways to improve primary care delivery by a redesign of the all patient delivery care processes. Their approach focused on delivering value for patients as defined as “patient outcomes achieved relative to the amount of money spent.”

The current movement to value-based reimbursement requires a shift from care organized around fee-for-service transactional encounters and services to one that meets a “defined set of patient needs over a full care cycle.”

The authors identified five key areas to transform care. They are:

    • Base primary care on patient needs
    • Integrate delivery models by subgroup
    • Measure value for each subgroup
    • Align payment with value, and
    • Integrate subgroup team and specialty care

Excerpts from: Working Collaboratively to Enhance the Patient Experience. Becker’s Hospital Review, October 5, 2015