Special Journal Issue on Patient-Centered, Collaborative Care
<p>Health care in the United States is "neither patient-centered nor collaborative," writes Donald Berwick, M.D., in the preface to a new <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=22690&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D377919%26%23doc377919">special issue</a> of the <em>Journal of Ambulatory Care Management.</em> The issue, which explores restructuring care to achieve fundamental changes, includes articles supported by The Commonwealth Fund.<br><br>In one article, "Patients Report Positive Impacts of Collaborative Care," Dartmouth Medical School's John H. Wasson, M.D., reveals that only one of five patients receive "good" collaborative care. Of 25,000 adults surveyed, just 21 percent said they were given useful information from clinicians and were "very confident" about their ability to manage their medical condition. A collaborative, team approach to care is associated not only with superior provider continuity and access, but with better health outcomes, like control of blood pressure and pain management, as well as greater use of preventive services.<br><br>In another article, Wasson and colleagues describe a planned-care strategy that tailors treatment of chronic illness to patients based on their confidence level and financial status. And researchers at the National Business Coalition on Health outline ways in which employers and employer-led coalitions can build on the momentum for patient-centered care.</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2006/jun/special-journal-issue-on-patient-centered--collaborative-care