When the community is part of the care: How physicians can extend clinical reach into patients' daily lives

A physician's influence over a patient's health does not have to end at the exam room door.

But extending that influence requires primary care physicians to build relationships that reach into the places where patients actually live their lives.

“Using Community Partnerships to Inform the Prevention Strategy of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation,” is a new consensus study report published by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. It explains the vital importance of physicians cultivating trusted relationships with community organizations that can reach the patient at home, at a community center, or at a faith-based organization. Partners in those settings can reinforce the clinical goals the physician has already set.

That’s not just a theory. The report includes examples and data with real-world results that show dividends, financial and medical, when physicians and community groups invest in patient health as a common cause.

Alex H. Krist, M.D., M.P.H., a family physician and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Andrea A. Anderson, M.D., M.Ed., FAAFP, a family physician and associate professor at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, are two of the report’s co-authors. They spoke with Medical Economics about the report and their own experiences with community partnerships.

Community-clinical partnerships: credibility, accountable care, and a roadmap to the future