The Patient's Medical Home

The Patient's Medical Home (PMH) is a vision for Canadian family practice, presented by the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 2011. It puts the patient at the centre of the care model, to receive comprehensive, coordinated and continuous care from a family physician and health care team. This vision outlines 10 goals for family practice below.

In 2015, the Department of Family Medicine created an accountability framework to monitor and drive progress in these key areas.

	1. Patient-Centered Care A Patient's Medical Home provides care that is focused on the individual patient and tailored to his or her specific needs.
	2. Personal Family Physician The patient’s own family doctor, the most responsible care provider, is at the core of the Patient's Medical Home.
	3. Team-Based Care A Patient's Medical Home offers a broad scope of services carried out by teams or networks of providers, including each patient’s personal family physician.
	4. Timely Access A Patient's Medical Home ensures timely access to appointments within the practice. The PMH also coordinates timely appointments with services outside the practice.
	5. Comprehensive Care A Patient's Medical Home provides each of its patients with comprehensive family practice services. A PMH also meets and supports the public health needs of the community.
	6. Continuity of Care A Patient's Medical Home provides continuity of care, continuity of relationships and information for its patients.
	7. Electronic Medical Records A Patient's Medical Home maintains and meaningfully uses electronic medical records (EMRs) for its patients.
	8. Education, Training, and Research A Patient's Medical Home serves as an ideal site for training medical students, family medicine residents and those in other health professions. A PMH is also an ideal setting for carrying out medical research.
	9. Evaluation and Quality Improvement A Patient's Medical Home regularly evaluates the effectiveness of its services as part of its commitment to continuous quality improvement.
	10. Internal and External Supports A Patient's Medical Home has strong internal support, from practice-appropriate administration. A PMH also is supported by governments, the public and other health professions.