Medical Home
Keeping Patients Healthy and Out of the Hospital
It's not a house call, but the "medical home" concept has been compared to that bygone era of medicine in the way that it improves the doctor-patient relationship. Imagine getting a phone call or e-mail from your doctor asking you how you're feeling, or how your new blood pressure medicine is making you feel. What if you could check your medical records and make a doctor's appointment online?
Such things are happening at Carilion Clinic.
Several physician practices in the Roanoke and New River valleys are adopting this approach to care. To date, 11 practices are recognized as Level-3 (highest) Patient-Centered Medical Homes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), while 18 other practices have either applied for review or are in preparation for review. Our Family Medicine group in Vinton led the way, becoming the first practice in Virginia to be certified as a Patient-Centered Medical Home.
Better Care By Staying Connected
At Carilion Clinic, our doctors and nurses strive every day to make it easier to manage your healthcare the way you want.
Partner with your doctor to avoid hospital visits.
Carilion Clinic has transformed its primary care practices so a team of healthcare professionals, led by a doctor, proactively cares for each patient. Imagine getting a phone call or an e-mail from your doctor asking how you're feeling, or how your new blood pressure medication is working.
This kind of doctor-patient relationship allows doctors to focus their energy on improving your health — and helping them avoid costly medications and procedures.
Stay in touch with your doctor by email.
Carilion Clinic is the region's only healthcare provider offering MyChart, an online healthcare management tool that provides patients secure, 24/7 access to their health information. With MyChart, patients can communicate with physicians via secure e-mail and also:
- Review medical history, including medication, immunization and allergy information
- Receive test results online - no waiting for a phone call or letter
- Request refills of medications online
- Request an appointment online
Help your loved ones stay healthy.
Our goal is to put patients and their families at the center of all we do. That's why we also offer proxy access to MyChart. With proxy access, parents could go online to see their kids' medical histories, or a loved one could grant another family member permission to access his or her medical record. Then you could check to make sure you senior dad is keeping up with his medications.
Work with a team — and new technology — to coordinate your care.
No longer do patients have to navigate a maze of fragmented systems, trying to understand the complicated relationships between hospitals and doctors. Carilion Clinic is one of the first healthcare organizations in the country to transition from paper patient records to electronic medical records (EMR).
Our EMR system brings together patients' medical records in one place, providing doctors at all Carilion facilities easy access to their patients' most up-to-date and accurate records. The EMR allows members of your healthcare team to communicate and collaborate more effectively for your benefit.
Get out and exercise with our doctors.
Doctors always encourage their patients to exercise regularly, but how many go beyond the talk and actually walk the walk? Dozens of Carilion doctors do as part of our Physicians on Foot walking program. Every Saturday at 8:30 a.m., a Carilion doctor leads a 2-mile walk, which can improve both cardiovascular health and stress level. This is just another way our doctors hope to inspire patients to improve their health.
These are just some of the ways Carilion is improving healthcare to work the way you want.
