What is a MEDICAL HOME?

A Medical Home is about YOU. It is an approach to providing total health care for YOU. With your medical home, you will join a team that includes your doctor, your nurse, your health educator and any other health care professionals. You may also include trusted friends and family members as part of your team, if you choose, to help you make the best choices about your health.

How Does a MEDICAL HOME Work for you?

In a medical home, your care team:

• Is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  You can communicate with your team by phone and you can get an appointment quickly, even on the same day when needed. Call us at 210-922-7000.
• Knows you and remembers your health history.
  They know enough about your personal or family situation to suggest treatment options that make sense for you.
• Makes sure you understand your condition(s) and how to take care of yourself.
  They help you sort through your options and make decisions about your care.
• Helps you coordinate your health care, even if they are not providing the care themselves.
  They will help you find specialists, schedule appointments, and make sure specialists have all the information they need. They will ensure that you know what the specialists say and what it means for you.

Who is Part of the MEDICAL HOME CARE TEAM?

• This team may include a doctor, nurse, and a health educator, as well as other health care professionals, like a pharmacist, counselor or specialist.
• These team members will work together to help you get healthy, stay healthy, and get the care and services that are right for you.
• Your trusted friends and family members may also be part of the team, if you choose, and YOU are the most important member!

What can you do to help the MEDICAL HOME CARE TEAM help you?

Be an active team player:

• Talk with your team about your health questions.
• Share the successes and the challenges you have had with health care in the past.
• Inform your team about other health care professionals who care for you.
• Explain to your team how you feel about the care you are getting from them.
• Inform your team of the medicines and dietary supplements you are taking.

Take care of your health:

• Follow the health care plan that you and your team have worked out.
• Make sure you understand how to follow the plan that you and your team have prepared.
• Set goals you can reach. Once you begin to see results, you and your team can discuss adding new goals.

Share your result with your team:

• Inform your medical team if you are having trouble following your care plan.
• Inform your medical team of what is or is not working so that together you can make changes as needed.
• Inform your medical home before going to the ER, after visiting the ER, or if you have been hospitalized.

When do you visit your MEDICAL HOME?

• Common illnesses, when you or your family member looks or acts sick such as fever, flu, sore throats and coughs.
• Problems that need care now such as: infections, asthma, vomiting, injuries, sprains and cuts that need stitches.
• Annual physicals and immunization (as needed for wellness and prevention) and to help manage chronic illnesses or conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

When do you visit the EMERGENCY ROOM?

You should visit the ER when you or your family member could risk their health or life without immediate help. Following are some reasons to go to the ER:

• When bleeding won’t stop
• When it is difficult to breath
• After a serious accident or injury
• After a convulsion that lasts more than 3 minutes

The CentroMed Patient Portal is a secure online website where patients have convenient 24-hour access to their electronic health record. Enroll today or ask staff how to login to the NextGen Patient Portal for immediate access