15th Medical group adopts hometown patient care mentality Published April 20, 2011 By Staff Sgt. Nathan Allen 15th Wing Public Affairs JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii- -- "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name." The slogan made popular by the television sitcom "Cheers" could also apply to a new initiative by the 15th Medical Group at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Hawaii, to adopt a small-town patient care mentality between patients and their health care providers. Capt. Randy Bosch 15th Medical Group practice manager, identified the new program as the "family health initiative," an idea created by Lt. Gen. Charles Green, Air Force surgeon general. Under FHI, Airmen and dependents who receive care from the 15th MDG will no longer make an appointment and be left to wonder which doctor and medical staff they would see. According to Captain Bosch, FHI will solidify the surgeon general's vision of how primary care at the 15th MDG should be: a medical home that's both personal and mutually beneficial to both patients and staff. "I grew up in New Orleans and even I had a neighborhood doctor that I would go to," he said. "Everybody knew his name, he was on his patients' Christmas lists, and you knew who you would see when you went in there. You felt comfortable talking to him. You knew he knew about you and your family's issues. In addition to that, you knew the staff that you would see." In addition to increasing rapport between patients and medical personnel, the familiarity created by FHI will allow doctors to provide more efficient healthcare. Before seeing a patient, a doctor does research on the patient's history. By creating continuity between patients and providers, doctors already know their patients' medical histories and can spend less time doing patient research. "When you're assigned here, you get this team that manages your healthcare along with you," said Captain Bosch. "You're at the center of it and your team helps you. As opposed to having 10,000 patients that any one doctor could see, now it's 2,500 for every two doctors. Under FHI, patients are equally divided among four medical teams consisting of two providers, a nurse, a healthcare integrator, and five medical technicians. Each team has not only an equal number of patients, but the diverse spectrum of patient needs is divided up equally. For example, each team will have an equal number of retirees, asthmatics, patients with high blood pressure, etc. "We're excited about the program and I think this helps us establish a better relationship with our patients, said Lt. Col. Rene Chadwell, 15th Medical Operations Squadron commander. "Part of what we're being measured on and part of what we get value from is the increased continuity with our patients and the focus on keeping the patient satisfied. The thing that keeps the providers happy is that we're focusing on preventative efforts which means we're getting ahead of the problem as opposed to always being in a reactive mode." "When you look at the overall picture of the thing, it's good for everyone involved and folks are happy that we're doing it." Just because a patient is assigned to a team, however, doesn't mean they can't change providers. Patients who would like to switch medical teams can fill out a primary care manager change request form at the 15th MDG's Tricare Operations and Patient Administration section. According to Captain Bosch, change requests are monitored to avoid "shopping around" based on unfavorable diagnoses. "We're finding that it's a very effective model for providing family healthcare," said Colonel Chadwell. "Patients belong to us and they're a part of our family because there's a relationship there. Our vision is for this to become the ultimate in the healthcare experience. From a medical perspective, this is their home."