CHANS Home Health Care to Expand Community Health Services

BRUNSWICK, ME—CHANS Home Health Care has been selected as a Community Care Team (CCT), a key component of the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model that focuses on the primary care physician as the hub of an individual’s health care. As a CCT, CHANS will work directly with local primary care physicians to connect patients to community health resources such as disease prevention and management, health education, and case management services in comfort of their homes.

A national trend in healthcare, Maine began piloting the PCMH model in January 2010, as a collaborative effort of the Maine Quality Forum, Maine Quality Counts, and the Maine Health Management Coalition. Ultimately the goal of the pilot is to implement the PCMH model statewide.

“The PCMH model focuses on improving the health of each of our patients, while lowering health care costs in the long run,” said Dr. Carl DeMars, CHANS Medical Director. “It is through the primary care teams that manage all aspects of a patients' care, from chronic disease prevention to hospital admissions, that we will achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients, especially those with complex or chronic conditions.”

Now entering phase two of the pilot, physician practices operating under the PCMH model will be aligning with CCTs, such as CHANS, to further improve care and reduce avoidable costs for patients. CHANS will be working directly with five local primary care practices to connect patients with additional health and community resources, in order to support their health improvement goals and achieve better health outcomes.

Darlene Chalmers, Executive Director of CHANS commented, “The CHANS Community Care Team will foster relationships with our local primary care practices to offer integrated, accessible, and evidence-based healthcare solutions to our community.” She added, “The benefit of working with this program is that we will be able to serve all individuals, regardless of their income and insurance status.”

In addition to serving the MCMG Bath and Brunswick Primary Care practices, The CHANS Community Care Team will support three additional PCMH sites including Martin’s Point Brunswick – Cook’s Corner Health Care Center, Wiscasset Family Medicine, and Lifespan Family Healthcare in Newcastle.

CHANS Home Health Care is a full service, non-profit, Joint Commission Accredited agency providing skilled home health, hospice, private duty care services, and an array of community-based wellness clinics and support services in Mid Coast Maine. CHANS is an affiliate of Mid Coast Health Services