It’s no secret that many primary care practices are capping out with the number of patients they can handle, forcing some providers to close their panels to new patients. Practices that are still accepting patients may require a waiting time of several weeks or even months for a patient’s visit. Follow-up visits for existing patients can also be a challenge to schedule in a timely manner. As Fred Pelzman, a patient-centered medical home internist, explains in his blog, ”Building the Patient Centered Medical Home”, novel approaches are needed to improve patient access to care. Changing the way appointments are scheduled and selecting the most appropriate person from the medical team to see and treat a patient are some of the ideas he has in mind. Dr. Pelzman’s blog appears in MedPage Today. http://bit.ly/QFqEhx
