A medical home is a general practice or Aboriginal medical service (AMS) which commits to being accountable for ongoing high-quality care for its patients. The medical home is a concept that has been defined and evaluated extensively in recent literature. It has been demonstrated to be an effective and efficient way of providing primary care.
The medical home provides care which is patient centred, accessible, comprehensive, coordinated and has a focus on quality and safety. Many general practices and AMSs already strive to uphold medical home principles and are providing high quality care for their communities however every practice can improve its capacity to offer the highest levels of care in all domains of ‘medical homeness’.
Implementing the medical home model provides practices with the opportunity to implement refined ways of working within their practice and in their interactions with the broader health system. The NCPHN is committed to assisting general practices and AMSs on their medical home journey and we offer guidance and ongoing support to implement this model.