During Women's Day at a patient-centered medical home in Omaha, Nebraska, patients get a manicure along with their routine screenings.
That’s just one of many services that Midwest Regional Health Services, an independent primary care practice, offers to keep its patients healthy—and keep them coming through the doors, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
“It’s pretty awesome,” said patient Diana Dulaney, 68, who was among nearly two dozen patients who caught up on routine screenings, such as mammograms, immunizations and skin cancer checks, during the event.
RELATED: 4 ways PCMH practices differ from traditional medical offices
It’s one of the ways the practice is taking a step beyond the norm to keep patients healthy. “It’s about taking care of the patients and helping them take care of themselves,” said Donald Darst, M.D., president of Midwest Regional, which is the first PCMH in Nebraska to be certified at the highest level by the National Committee on Quality Assurance.
Here are a few other steps the PCMH is taking to set itself apart:
- The practice posts physicians’ quality measures that show how a doctor’s patients are doing meeting indicators for diabetes, hypertension, lipids and weight on waiting room walls each month.
- In addition to the Women's Day events, it has scheduled three upcoming mammogram events to ensure patients get their screenings.
RELATED: CEO Chet Burrell—Here’s how CareFirst designed a patient-centered medical home that saved it $1B
- It holds similar one-stop-shop diabetes days for diabetic patients to complete preventive care, including foot and eye checks, and to develop individualized treatment plans.
- It has launched a healthy living group focused on exercise and diet, in which the first group of 13 patients lost 66 pounds over 12 weeks.
The more primary care clinics implemented components of a PCMH model, the greater they were able to improve their management of chronic diseases, a recent study found. Reviews of PCMHs suggest they can lower costs and improve care quality, but a significant investment in primary care and strong payer-provider collaboration is key to success.