“—providing the highest quality of care at the lowest cost possible while improving patient outcomes—is becoming more and more difficult…” “One strong option to help the medical community achieve these aims is physician-led team-based care.”
A recent AMA Wire story noted: “In a physician-led team, physicians collaborate with nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health professionals, supporting team members in performing to the height of their training and building on each professional’s strengths and perspectives. At the 2012 AMA Interim Meeting, a joint report (AMA login required) of the Councils on Medical Education and Medical Service established principles to guide the interactions between physician team leaders and non-physician practitioners. The Councils noted that this care delivery approach can help improve access to care, enhance quality and enable greater continuity of care.”
“As with other innovations in patient care delivery, there are challenges in implementing physician-led teams, mostly in the realm of performance measurement and outcomes. Few defined and reliable outcome measures currently are available. There’s also the problem of how to attribute performance and outcomes to each practitioner on a team—attribution often can be shared since team members are interdependent on one another. The implications on liability of these models of care are also unknown.”
A “… Virginia law states that nurse practitioners must practice as part of a patient care team and must collaborate and consult with at least one patient care team physician. The consultation can take place through telemedicine, freeing nurse practitioners to work in separate locations from their team physician, such as nursing homes or clinics in underserved areas. The bill also gives nurse practitioners the authority to prescribe certain controlled substances pursuant to a practice agreement with their team physician.”
“…the Council on Medical Service outlined recommendations for future payment models, stating that the models should: • Place the physician in charge of establishing payment disbursement mechanisms for their team; • Give the physician the authority to make decisions about payment disbursement in consideration of team member contributions, including volume and intensity of care provided, team members’ training and experience, and the quality of care provided; • Reflect the value provided by the team, with the team sharing the savings accrued by the new care model, and be sustainable over time.”
Click here to read the full AMA Wire article.
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Doctor, Did You Wash Your Hands? ™ provides information to consumers on understanding, managing and navigating health care options.
Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H., is Clinical Professor, Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and Adjunct Professor, Baruch College ( C.U.N.Y.), Rutgers School of Public Health, and Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration.
This blog shares general information about understanding and navigating the health care system. For specific medical advice about your own problems, issues and options talk to your personal physician.