What is a Patient Centered Medical Home?


A Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is not an actual building, house, hospital, or home health care service, but rather an approach to providing comprehensive primary care.  A PCMH is a way of organizing primary care in a more team-based approach among providers and the patient, emphasizing coordination and communication.  A PCMH can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and can improve patients’ and providers’ experience of care.   

The PCMH model includes a personal doctor and care team that will provide medical care.  When specialty care is needed, at the patient's request, the doctor and care team will personally manage, facilitate and coordinate the care with appropriate qualified professionals, such as hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies and related community resources. 

The PCMH model proposes to improve primary care by focusing on the patient-doctor relationship and to strengthen this dynamic through a more comprehensive approach to patient care and more active patient involvement.

What can patients expect from a PCMH? 

  • Access to doctors that utilize improved technologies to stay better connected with the medical community and manage care more efficiently.
  • Improved access to care through easier scheduling of appointments and extended office hours.
  • More focused, personal interaction with doctors and care teams that will help navigate through the complex healthcare system.
  • A more comprehensive delivery of primary care through the improved coordination of care, managed by the patient's personal doctor and their care team.