Change Concepts

• Promote and expand access by ensuring that established patients have 24/7 continuous access to their care teams via phone, e-mail or in-person visits.
• Provide scheduling options that are patient- and family-centered and accessible to all patients.
• Help patients attain and understand health insurance coverage.
  
  

The goal of this Change Concept is to ensure that patients and family members can get healthcare when and how they need it.

Enhanced access refers to expanding patients’ and family members’ options for interacting with their healthcare team, including opportunities for in-person visits, after hours care, phone calls, e-mails, and other services. Enhanced access requires flexible appointment systems that can accommodate customized visit lengths, same day visits, scheduled follow-up and multiple provider visits.

The Enhanced Access Change Concept expects that a patient’s healthcare coverage is viewed as a shared responsibility to be addressed by the patient and an assigned member of the care team.

• Enhanced Access Implementation Guide (December 2010)
  This implementation guide provides guidance on how practices can provide patient-centered care 24/7 by increasing capacity, decreasing unnecessary demand, and ensuring that all patients have access to care, regardless of their ability to pay.
   Read the guide
  
  
• Enhanced Access: Extending Care Services to 24 Hours/7 Days a Week (October 2010)
  Moderator: Donna Daniel, PhD, Qualis Health
  Speakers: L. Gordon Moore, MD, Ideal Medical Practices (Seattle, WA); Soma Stout, MD, Revere Family Health Center at Cambridge Health Alliance (Boston, MA)
   Audio & video program     Printable slides