Medical Home

The current buzzword in medicine is medical home so I thought I'd take a few minutes to discuss what it is and why it is important.  Quite simply the medical home is our office. We synthesize and coordinate all your child's health information and care.  This is not new. This is what we have been doing for years. It is just getting attention now as a way to improve care and decrease costs. 

So, why is this important?  In medicine a lot of what we do is based on information and the more complete and accurate the information the better.  It can better direct our care so that we order appropriate medications and tests.  For example, a child that has had two recent ear infections is in my office with another one.  If I know what dates the previous ear infections were and what antibiotics he was on I can better choose the treatment for this ear infection decreasing the likelihood of a return trip to my office.

How can you help foster the medical home?  First of all, call us and come to see us when your child has a problem.  That way all your child's records and information is in one place.  Second, if your child is seen at an urgent care, ER, or specialist make sure they have our office information and send us a record of your child's visit. It doesn't happen automatically.  Third, follow up with our office when recommended by these providers.   Last, visit us yearly for your child's well child check.  At that time we can review any issues over the past year and we can make sure we are on track for good health for the coming year.

So, this is where Dr. Krieg gets up on her soapbox...  As many of you know I do not like urgent care. I see an over prescription of medication which leads to an increase in cost and side effects.  Also, many times a follow up is needed which leads to an extra doctor visit and cost for you.  Because we have a relationship with you and know your child we do not prescribe as many medications and we have the ability to follow up by phone in many cases.

And that summarizes the medical home.  Welcome to our Home!