LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Over the last two years, the Family Health Initiative has gradually rolled-out at bases across the country, and 2010 signals the launch of the program here.
This initiative allows for increased access to team appointments, fewer and easier referrals and a better understanding of your medical treatment and healthcare needs.
Along with the opening of the new medical facility at Langley, the community will see a few changes for active-duty members, family members and medical staff associated with this FHI.
First, 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 like the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic. Second, FHI means patients will have a closer working partnership with their healthcare team and improved access to all relevant healthcare services, to include preventive care tailored to maintain and optimize your health.
To create the Langley Medical Home, the medical staff will be in one of eight assigned teams. Each team will be led by a Family Health physician and include a physician's assistant or family health nurse practitioner, nurses and medical technicians. If patients have family members enrolled at USAF Hospital Langley, we will make every attempt to assign the entire family to the same healthcare team. More importantly, patients will be assigned an entire healthcare team and will receive information about their team, and receive invites to future open house events with their team.
In measuring the success of the FHI, we will be keeping an eye on how often patients are able to see the same healthcare professional for services. We want Langley to be the medical treatment facility of choice for the greater military community on the Peninsula. We would also like Langley to be the workplace of choice for our medical providers and staff and for our medics to be base leaders in support of readiness.
Perhaps the largest measure of success will be hearing about the patients' level of satisfaction with the new team base model. E-mail thoughts and ideas to make the healthcare experience better at langleymedhome@langley.af.mil.