Observations from home: The patient centered medical home, integrated behavioral healthcare, teams and teamwork

Medicine is no longer a single's game, it's a team sport. Long true in surgical specialties where the operative effort led by the chief surgeon is a carefully choreographed ballet of surgical assistants, surgical nurses, anesthesiologist, and other technical staff, now medical subspecialists are also assisted by teams composed of advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, social workers, and pharmacists. In primary care, the new vehicle for care teams is the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH; Kellerman & Kirk, 2007), which is designed to serve 85%-90% of patients' needs with the broadest "basket of services" possible.