photo by CSM
Patient Centered Medical Home has become the preeminent model for primary care delivery across the US. The model, however, is predicated on a patient’s geographic stability, wherein she or he works with a care team in one location over the course of treatment, for months or years. Among mobile patients like agricultural workers, such a model’s weaknesses are exposed. But there are several key ways that community health centers can build or reshape their PCMH model to assure that mobile patients aren’t left out.
Migrant Clinicians Network’s new interactive tool provides targeted resources to community health centers to re-envision PCMH for mobile patients, no matter where in the PCMH process those health centers are, from a clinic first considering a PCMH approach, to a health center with a well-established and integrated PCMH. Following the prompts, users can click through to find the most relevant resources for their stage in the process. Visit MCN’s PCMH page to access the interactive tool: https://www.migrantclinician.org/pcmh.
For mobile patients, PCMH is most efficient when linked with MCN’s Health Network, our bridge case management program for mobile patients with any ongoing health concern. Health Network assures continuity of care and treatment completion by providing comprehensive case management, medical records transfer, and follow-up services for mobile patients. The no-cost service is available for patients with any health concern. Recent Health Network patients include a pregnant agricultural worker who moves every three weeks; a person with TB who is moving back to his country of origin in the midst of treatment; an immigrant traveling internationally and struggling to keep his diabetes under control; a person who recently underwent a cancer screening but is moving to a new state before the results can be shared. Learn more about Health Network at https://www.migrantclinician.org/services/network.html.