After submitting two papers Friday afternoon, I officially finished my month of Family Medicine. It was a fantastic experience, and I learned a lot about the “patient centered medical home” (PCMH) with regards to coordinating a patient’s healthcare holistically across many specialties and time beginning with the primary care physician. The ultimate goal of PCMH is to improve outcomes while simultaneously decreasing cost — a goal for any broken healthcare system.
A faculty member brought up an excellent point about in the post-rotation feedback session. Some medical practices are being inundated with an alphabet soup of MAs, LVNs, CMAs, CNAs, and so on. This helps reduce costs while attending to patients more quickly; however, these individuals often assume responsibilities they aren’t trained for (ie, phlebotomy, addressing patients’ questions via telephone, etc.). And therein lay one of the causes of medical error. With decreased compensation on the horizon, an escalating shortage of physicians, and more overhead… how else can we streamline private practice? 
Another nurse brought me clementines from her backyard.
Now it’s time to enjoy the weekend! 
