What if, instead of waiting to see your doctor until you were very sick, your doctor knew you well enough to anticipate potential health problems and head them off?

In fact, what if your health care needs, from childhood to old age, were anticipated and provided seamlessly by a team of health care providers who knew you and your family?

What if you saw your health care provider more often, but health care cost less?

These are the possibilities envisioned by those who are familiar with a concept known as "Medical Home," and they are more than just the imaginings of a few dreamers. Leading health care organizations, many in the business community and political leaders, support the concept. Earlier this year, the Washington State Legislature passed a measure calling for the development of a Medical Home Collaborative and the State Department of Health is taking applications from health care providers around the state who wish to participate.

Sound Family Medicine is working to become a partner in this collaborative, a role that will put our practice and our patients on the forefront of health care reform. But that's not the reason we want to be part of the collaborative - rather we strive to provide an even higher level of patient care while streamlining administrative functions and reducing the cost of care. We think that Medical Home is among the most promising concepts for providing holistic, high quality care in a cost effective manner.

Medical Home differs from the traditional American health care model because, instead of focusing only on episodes of illness, it works to provide patients with care for overall health. Visits may be planned on a recurring schedule in order to keep a chronic illness under excellent control, or to make sure prevention or early detection screening and tests are completed.

Sound Family Medicine is well-suited for implementing a Medical Home model. We're among the most high-tech family practices in the Northwest, yet we've always maintained a personal, patient-centered approach to care. Twelve years ago, we implemented an electronic medical records system, which includes electronic prescriptions. This system has improved communication and coordination between our staff, our patients and their pharmacies and other specialists.

We also offer "mySFM", which allows patients to send electronic secure messages to the clinic and individual providers with confidence that their privacy and security are assured. Patients can also use this portal to schedule and view appointments, request referrals and prescription refills, and pay bills.

Our website contains educational information to encourage patients to play an active role in improving their health. All of these tools have been created with our patients in mind, with the goal of improving the efficiency of our care, and improving our patients' overall long-term health without the additional costs to the healthcare system.

Whether or not Sound Family Medicine is selected for the state's Medical Home Collaborative, Sound Family Medicine will continue to explore the development of a "Medical Home" model because of its value for our patients and the efficiency of our system.

For more information about the "Medical Home," please visit http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/wsc/Med-Home/med-home.htm.

Other useful sites about efforts to reduce healthcare costs:
Washington Healthcare Forum: http://www.wahealthcareforum.org/uploads/Forum_IssueBrief_ReformingDeliverySystem.pdf

Best Practice Recommendations from Legislation: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2009-10/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5346-S2.PL.htm