RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Learning from Alma Ata: The Medical Home and Comprehensive Primary Health Care
JF The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
JO J Am Board Fam Med
FD American Board of Family Medicine
SP 242
OP 246
DO 10.3122/jabfm.2009.03.080195
VO 22
IS 3
A1 Gottlieb, Laura M.
YR 2009
UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/22/3/242.abstract
AB The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) recently has received much attention in health systems literature. The PCMH holds considerable promise for improving health outcomes and re-establishing a role for family medicine in a fragmented health care system. Despite its philosophical approach to comprehensive health care reform, the PCMH fails to offer concrete recommendations to address the social determinants of health, which include health and social policy. Political engagement to promote health is part of both primary health care and specifically family medicine's history; the absence of practical, adaptable ways to implement this engagement may undermine the PCMH's ultimate goals of improving individual and population health.