Cleveland medical home experiment showing positive results

A year-old attempt at creating a modest medical home program at Cleveland’s St. Vincent Charity Hospital is starting to yield positive results, hospital officials are saying (Source: “If it’s not quite a medical home, can it still work for health care?,” MedCity News, May 4, 2009).

Through an improved electronic medical records system and outreach efforts that include hospital staff visiting patients’ homes, the hospital has seen flu shots increase by 30 percent and foot exams go up by 50 percent.

A $575,000 grant from Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, which is St. Vincent’s parent health system (full disclosure: Sisters of Charity Foundation also provides financial support to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio), and a donation from insurer Medical Mutual of Ohio were used to get the project off the ground. Although early results show reason for optimism, hospital officials say that financial challenges may preclude them from creating a full-fledged medical home program.

“We’re expecting challenges, and a lot of it is going to be financial,” said Dr. Adnan Tahir, St. Vincent’s chief medical officer. “If we cannot meet every single element to be called a medical home, if we can add a piece of it — like enhanced access — it’s a big step forward for our community.”