LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Last year, the Family Health Initiative was introduced to the healthcare beneficiaries at USAF Hospital Langley. In recent months, the program has slowly taken shape. The 633d Medical Group has increased medical and support staff, equipment and facilities. All the components are now in place, and the group is proud and prepared to welcome family health patients to a "patient-centered medical home."
The following is an overview of the Air Force Patient-Centered Medical Home program known as the Family Health Initiative.
FHI is based on an early "patient-centered medical home" model of care first introduced in the 1960s and refined over time at some of the nation's top medical clinics, such as the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic. The initiative provides patients a closer working partnership with their healthcare team and improved access to all relevant healthcare services, including preventative care tailored to maintain and optimize patient health. As an active team member, the patient is able to see that healthcare goals and needs are achieved. Most importantly, FHI provides continuity of care with the healthcare team. Healthcare is improved when there is a consistency with a team of professionals who are familiar with the individual needs of their patients.
The Langley Medical Home has aligned the medical staff into eight teams with the goal of providing the very best medical services and care possible. Each team is led by a physician and includes a physician assistant or nurse practitioner, a nurse and five medical technicians. If patients have family members enrolled at USAF Hospital Langley, the group encourages enrollment of the entire family to the same healthcare team. Deployments, increased operations tempo and mission requirements may warrant substitutions. Short of deployments, our goal is to ensure patients see their assigned healthcare team for the majority of their healthcare visits.
Beginning in March, the family health team will also begin providing inpatient hospital services as well as outpatient care. While the goal of the military medical system is to prevent illness and disease, there may come a time when patients will need to be admitted for hospital care. Even then, healthcare providers will be a part of patients' treatment team, maintaining that link to a full continuum of care.
In measuring the success of FHI, the staff will constantly monitor how often patients are able to see the same healthcare team for services. The goal is to make USAF Hospital Langley the medical treatment facility of choice for the greater military community on the Peninsula. The largest measure of success, however, continues to be patient satisfaction.
Editor's Note: The USAF Langley Hospital staff welcomes and encourages comments and feedback. E-mail thoughts and ideas to improve the healthcare experience to langleymedhome@langley.af.mil.