Imagine being granted your fondest wish! Well, that’s what happened this year when we were given the go-ahead to transform the Family Health Services at Lancaster General Hospital. The Family Health Service is one of the two ambulatory training sites for our Family Medicine Residency. It is an urban practice with a richly diverse patient population. It has been the cornerstone of care to the underserved for our residency program since its inception.
In November of 2008 we will move the Family Health Service from the hospital proper, across the street to a new ambulatory center. A skyway over Duke Street will connect our practice to the hospital. We have been given carte blanche in designing an extraordinary experience for our patients, our residents, and our students, as we transform the Family Health Service to a new model of care described in the Future of Family Medicine project.
The new Family Health Service will provide expanded access to patients using advanced access scheduling. Our office will integrate asynchronous communication into patient care, using the My Chart feature of the EPIC electronic health record currently in use. Patients can opt to receive their information, results, and communications through email with their physician.
The new Family Health Service will establish three faculty/resident teams acting as micro-practices within the Family Health Service. Each team will create their own mission, schedule, and provide a range of procedures for their patients. In addition, patients can opt to have their care provided in the group setting for diabetes care or prenatal care. Supervision in the Family Health Service will be provided by two preceptors to increase availability and flexibility for resident teaching.
In keeping with the Future of Family Medicine, our residents will be encouraged to become innovators in the delivery of care. We will use rapid cycle, continuous quality improvement techniques and performance improvement projects, to set the pace for comprehensive, responsive, and cutting-edge patient care, for the family practice of the future.