Lowering health care costs and improving patient health are goals of an effort Alegent Health is testing at a west Omaha clinic.

The effort involves a team approach to medical care that includes doctors, physician assistants, dietitians, physical therapists and pharmacists.

It's called a medical home model and is aimed at providing care that is more coordinated and preventive so patients avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, emergency room visits and other problems, said Dr. Lewis Eirinberg, a family physician at the clinic.

Alegent began testing the medical home model in March at its clinic at 144th Street and Eagle Run Drive and intends to expand it to other clinics in the next several years. Alegent provided details of the effort at a press conference Thursday.

The medical home idea has received attention during the health care overhaul debate as a way to strengthen doctor-patient relationships.

All patients at the Eagle Run clinic are part of the medical home effort, Eirinberg said.

Patients can meet with multiple members of the medical team, such a pharmacist and a dietitian, during a single visit.

That helps assure that aspects of the patient's care are not being missed, Eirinberg said. For example, the patient doesn't need to make a separate visit to a pharmacist to determine if a medication needs to be changed.

Having members of the medical team together also improves communication. A dietitian, for example, can discuss with the pharmacist whether a certain medication might affect a patient's appetite.

Alegent says its medical home program has received the highest level of recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a nonprofit group that accredits and monitors health care providers. The recognition means the Alegent program has met the group's standards for medical homes.

Part of the Alegent clinic's effort involves group visits for patients with diabetes.

There are six groups with six to 10 patients in each. During the visits, each group goes through a medical exam that can include blood pressure and blood tests. Group members share their results with each other.

Eirinberg said that by sharing the results, patients can provide each other support and encouragement. Patients can also share steps they have taken with diet and exercise that helped their condition improve.

During the visits, the patients also meet with other members of the medical team.

Alegent plans to form other groups at the clinic for patients with other chronic conditions such as obesity.

Larry Engelhardt, 80, is among patients in the diabetes group.

The Omahan said he has received good care that has helped him lose weight.

Encouragement from other patients and advice from the dietitian, including tips on reading food labels, has helped him drop from 240 pounds to 185 in the past year.

“I feel great,'' he said.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1122, michael.oconnor@owh.com

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