Guided Care, a new model of comprehensive health care for people with multiple chronic conditions, has received the 2009 Medical Economics Award for Innovation in Practice Improvement from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) and Medical Economics magazine.
Chad Boult, MD, MPH, MBA, principal investigator of the Guided Care study and director of the Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, accepted the award at the STFM's annual Conference on Practice Improvement, held last week in Kansas City, Missouri. Early research results suggest that Guided Care improves the quality of care and reduces costs for older adults suffering from multiple chronic health conditions.
"I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the many researchers, doctors, nurses, patients and family caregivers who have made Guided Care an option for helping the 133 million Americans with chronic conditions to lead healthier lives," said Dr. Boult.
The Guided Care model was developed by a team of researchers at the Bloomberg School, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and is designed to improve patients' quality of life and care, while improving the efficiency of treating the sickest and most complex patients. The care teams include a registered nurse, two to five physicians, and other members of the office staff who work closely to monitor each patient's health and offers comprehensive, coordinated, patient-centered health care.