About
I work as an RN in an urban Family Medicine clinic in the post-industrial Midwest. My focus is on partnering with people, families, and their primary-care providers to set personal wellness goals and to achieve those goals.
I work as an RN in an urban Family Medicine clinic in the post-industrial Midwest. My focus is on partnering with people, families, and their primary-care providers to set personal wellness goals and to achieve those goals.
December 31, 2011 at 8:22 am |
THANKS for starting this Blog!! I am a nurse who is thinking of taking a PCMH Coordinator job at an internal medicine clinic attached to a large university here in the midwest. I have a background in IT and case mgmt along with my nursing experience.
What do you like and dislike about being a PCMH nurse? Do you think PCMH is just a new term for some good ideas that have already been tried? Or is it more that just a fad?
Thanks for any feedback you can provide!!
January 1, 2012 at 5:10 pm |
Hi John, thanks for your comment. What do I like about it? First and foremost, feeling like I am really helping people- I go home (almost) every night feeling like I really made a difference to someone. I am seeing real improvements in people’s health and skills for managing their health. I see the little lightbulb go on when I teach them something. People seem to feel like they benefit from a “session”- I don’t just check a BP, I sit down and go through all of the meds, talk about food, I try to go a little further than just two numbers with a slash in between. The providers appreciate that I am assisting with some of their tough patients. And the other staff appreciate it too, because I can be a resource for them also. Dislikes? Not so much.
People have said “This is just a new name for something that went out of style in the 1970′s” or whatever but the reality is, it is a different time now. We have a completely different payor system and increased costs that have to be monitored- costs that have largely come from improvements in imaging, medications, and treatments. Primary care has a different role in managing care than we did in the past. Also, not just the technology from MRI’s and so forth…but also electronic medical records and the information tracking that can and does go along with it, makes it different…we will be expected to show overall results to get some of the shrinking payments. Your background in IT will be a huge asset to you if you take the job.
Best of luck to you.