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KCHC is pushing for patient-centered care
Usually, a patient goes to the doctor for treatment of an illness. The Kagman Community Health Center seeks to upend that common model of healthcare by having patients participate in their own care.
To that end, the center is seeking to obtain certification for Patient Centered Medical Home by mid-2017. PCMH is an approach to modern-day healthcare that involves the patient as a whole. A patient may go to a PCMH as a one-stop provider of healthcare.
The program, which has been in effect at the Kagman Community Health Center since May, is “a new way of approaching healthcare, where patients are invited to participate in their care,” according to KCHC Medical Director Katherine Elstun, M.D.
“We want them [patients] to feel like our clinic is their medical home, where they can come with any medical problem. [We want patients to] know they can be cared for and listened to, and all of their health concerns will be addressed at their level,” said Elstun, speaking to members of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday
Although the concept of a one-stop center for healthcare has yet to be accepted throughout the medical world, KCHC aims to be first clinic to offer this kind of service in the CNMI.
“We would be applying for certification in the spring and hopefully we would get the certification in July or August of this year,” said Elstun.
It was not specified which particular certification KCHC would be applying for, but Elstun believes PCMH to be convenient for residents of Kagman, since a number of patients lack access to transportation.
Elstun cited several benefits with a PCMH, including cost savings.
More popular in the mainland, PCMH displayed a 19-percent reduction in emergency room, or ER, visits, fewer hospital admissions, fewer ambulatory sensitive ER visits, and better health environment.
PCMH seeks to be a one-stop shop for healthcare, but with limited healthcare professionals on the island, KCHC partners with the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. to address their shortcomings when it comes to medical services.
