Moving to Standard Work Elements in a Medical Home

I have found that the most compelling and simple tool in use for the change in moving a practice from medical practice to health home are the elements of standard work from Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound.  These elements including call management and outreach work cell define core traits of a value based practice.  Clearly a more aggressive model than hospital clinic medicine or private practice offices these elements lead to a trade-off with unnecessary hospital use.  We are using this model with Community Health Centers as they expand their role from a medical and case management outpatient site to one that bridges the transitions with other providers and manages chronic disease.

The Standard Work Elements are available on line at Group Health's website.