Medical Home with Health IT as my personal solution to Health Care

I am an early adopter and believe that you have to walk the talk, so recently I joined one of the first medical home models that uses a flat fee structure ($45 a month or $540 which is about equal to my health Insurance deductible ) for my primary care. Just as an FYI - I am one of the rare few to pay out of pocket for my health insurance at a rate of $458 a month for a not very good 80/20 plan. It therefore costs me $5000 per year before my insurance pays the first $ so I have a vested interest in high quality affordable care and added this to my strategy.

Yesterday I had a chance to use it for the first time. An email to the care team at 4pm , a call back from a nurse within 20 minutes, a doctor within an hour if I wanted and a next day visit if needed. Two phone calls to day to check up on me. The total cost $0 as it is covered by the flat fee.. here are some more details

Swedish Community Health Medical Home | Swedish Medical Center / Seattle: "Swedish Community Health Medical Home

What Makes Us Unique
We are a family medicine clinic with a medical home approach to care. This means patients of all ages will receive care from a team of personal physicians. Unlike traditional clinics where you pay for each visit, you and/or your insurance carrier will pay a fixed monthly rate that covers unlimited access to your physician team. We offer:"

Same-day appointments

30 to 60 minute visits

Direct after-hours phone access to your physician team

E-mail access to your physician team

Access to your own medical chart through a secured Web site

Interpreter services

Referrals to specialty care

Our Services Include:

Preventive Care/Wellness (including immunizations, well-child visits, adult visits, women's care)

Chronic Disease Management (including diabetes, hypertension, depression, asthma)

Pediatrics

Adolescent Medicine

Adult Medicine

Pregnancy Care

Geriatric Medicine

Mental Health Care

Urgent Care

Health Education

Minor Surgical Procedures

Media Coverage

To read a related article posted on www.localhealthguideonline.com on March 30, 2009, click here.

To read a related article posted on the Ballard News-Tribune Web site on March 27, 2009, click here.

To read a related article published in the Jan. 18, 2009 issue of The Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest magazine, click here.

To read a related article published in the Dec. 21, 2008 issue of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, click here.