Family Medicine's New Model of Care

Blending High Tech and High Touch

UCSD Family Medicine is striving to build a true Patient-Centered Medical Home that encompasses the best of "high tech / high touch" medicine available today.  Our goal is to deliver the right care to the right patient at the right time and in the right place – often, right in our own office.

In addition to general preventive and acute care, here are some of the many services and some of the newer advances we are working on that you will see when you come to visit our offices:

Continuity Team Care

We are organized into teams at our offices.  This is because we believe that no matter how big an institution we belong to, family medicine care is a "cottage industry" - that is, it needs to be a based on personal relationships. 

Since many of our physicians are involved in other academic pursuits and our Family Medicine resident physicians are covering other services, none of us can be available in person seven days a week.  To compensate for this, we have formed Continuity Care Teams composed of two or three faculty and three or four residents.  These teams are designed to operate like private group practices.  The doctors cover for one another so if one of them sees you when your own doc is not available, the important aspects of your visit will be relayed to your doctor for his/her review. 

• All of our doctors check their electronic in-baskets for messages and notes from their colleagues daily and usually several times a day.  In these ways, continuity of care is preserved even in the particular instance when your doc couldn’t see you.

Computerized Medical Record – EPIC

This is one of the most advanced systems available today and it has largely converted our practices to a “paperless environment.”  EPIC allows us to electronically transmit your prescriptions directly to your pharmacy, your test orders directly to the lab or radiology department, and your referrals to our specialists.  It allows us to track your care throughout our system no matter where you are seen and to talk with the specialists who see you, so we can truly deliver the best possible care for you.

Manage Your Health Care Online

UC San Diego Health System patients can take advantage of MyUCSDChart, a convenient and secure online tool that enables you to:

• View your medical records online
• Receive important health reminders
• Request prescription refills
• Communicate with your health care provider
• Request appointments
• Keep track of your medications

To sign up for MyUCSDChart, you must be over 18, be able to read English, and have Internet access and an email address.

• mychart.ucsd.edu 

“Advanced Access” Acheduling System

This system allows you to call for an appointment, regardless of the type of problem, and be seen either that same day or within the next day or two so that your problems can be taken care of in a timely manner.

The Chronic Care Model 

This is a new approach to caring for our patients with chronic medical conditions.  It involves bringing together multi-disciplinary teams of health professionals to fashion the best approach to caring for a chronic illness.  It also involves a more activated approach for our patients to play in managing their own chronic illness problems.

Group Visits

This is a new approach to managing the chronic conditions that many of our patients cope with today.  Diabetes, hypertension, increased cholesterol, heart failure, asthma, obstructive lung disease are just a few of these illnesses for which we are developing group visits.

Pharmacy Medication Management

With the assistance of our Skaggs School of Pharmacy faculty, students and residents we can now offer assistance to patients with complex medication lists who are having difficulties with side effects, costs or just being able to manage their medications regularly and safely.  They can also help with special challenges like chronic anticoagulation therapy and pain management.  Such help is available during regular visits or with special appointments with our pharmacy colleagues.

Collaborative Care

Some estimate that 60-80% of patients coming to our offices have emotional or behavioral concerns that are important to them.  Our Collaborative Care Team has therapists who can see you right in our own offices for brief interventions, longer therapy and even help with behavior change that will be helpful in managing your chronic medical conditions.  In this way we can all work together to get the "whole you" feeling better.

Office-based Procedures

Many office-based procedures can be provided in our FM offices.  These include dermatological minor surgeries such as skin biopsies and removal of growths, gynecological procedures like IUD placement and colposcopy, orthopedic and sports medicine joint injections, and even male contraception vasectomies. 

Obstetrical Care

We now have six to seven family physician faculty who provide obstetrical services in all three of our offices. They supervise all our family medicine residents in delivering prenatal care and performing deliveries. Three of these faculty members can also perform C-sections for those patients who need them.

Sports Medicine

Our own cadre of sports medicine trained family physicians are available for consultation in all of our offices.  Between your personal family physician and our Sports Med docs, almost all of your musculoskeletal and orthopedic problems can be handled short of surgery or major fracture management. 

Population Medicine

This refers to the fact that we want all of our patients to improve their health, not just those who decide to come and see us on a particular day.  If you join our practice we will try to look out for you even when you aren’t visiting us.  This means reminders for preventive services like cancer screening and immunizations, updates about current or new medications, and health information resources for patients with particular problems. 

• We feel responsible for the health of all the patients who choose our practice. We will be working to improve your health even when you are attending to other important aspects of your lives.