Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP James L. Holly, M.D. Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP


Letters - Letter Approved by CMS for sending to Medicare Recipients about Medical Home: Letter to patients approved by CMS
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Dear _______ (patient's name)

Often, as we reach a milestone in our life - say 65 years of age - or when we are faced with disappointment due to illness or disability, we often long for simpler times when we were more certain of who we are and felt more secure in our lives. 

As time brings insecurity or anxiety about our health, we look for anchors which are familiar and encouraging.  Many of us remember one of those anchors as the "ole timey" family "doc," who was more like a member of the family than a healthcare professional.  One of the hallmarks of our "coming of age" - either by birthday or disability -- is that we are now eligible for Medicare.   And, because we are "of an age," there is a healthcare option to regain those "good old times;" those safe and familiar times.

It is called Medical Home.  It is not a new idea; it is a new version of an old ideal.  Medical Home combines the new technology of healthcare, whose benefit we all want, with the old philosophy of a healthcare provider being a family friend, which we all long for.  Who ever thought that we could have both - high tech and high touch - the benefit of science and the blessing of sensitive, caring people?  We can.

You will be hearing more and more about Medical Home in the coming years, but a few fortunate people can experience it now.  Complex papers have been written about Medical Home but in essence it is defined by its name, "home:" 

  • Home is a place where you need fear no harm from those who are with you. 
  • Home is a place where your needs are met.
  • Home is a place you can go when you don't know what else to do. 
  • Home is a place where you can be yourself and you can tell others how you really feel without fear of rejection.
  • Home is a place where others really want to see you succeed.
  • Home is a place where if you are away too long, someone is calling to find out if you are OK.
  • Home is a place where you are treated like family.

Medical Home is where you and your needs come first. It is where you can expect the best care available but where you don't have to lose your individuality to get it.  It is where people are "looking out" for your healthcare interests.  It is where, when you don't understand what your physician is telling you, you can ask and you will get an answer.  It is where success is not measured by the value you are to the organization but by how valuable the organization is to you.  It is where you are the focus; you are the core; you are the center of attention.  It is where by design everything revolves around you and your healthcare needs.

In twenty years, Medical Home will be the standard of care for everyone, but by asking and looking, you can find a Medical Home today.  If you want to feel special again; if you are weary of feeling like you are a bother to your healthcare system, find a Medical Home.  There is no promise that everything that you want will come to pass, but there is a promise that everything you need in the way of medical services will be made available to you and that when your problem cannot be resolved someone besides you will care. 

Who would have thought that "coming home" would be finding an "ole timey-like" healthcare provider who will also make sure that you are receiving the best and most up-to-date preventive care, the best of evidence-based care where you are the leader of your healthcare team and every member of that team wants to make you successful.  You don't have to wait twenty years -you can have Medical Home today.  Just ask, no, insist that you be part of a Medical Home.

Stephen Foster's melancholy words, "There's where my heart is turning ever, there's where the old folks stay," often fill my heart with the yearning for simpler times.  If you share that longing, Medical Home can help.   To make an appointment with me to learn how Medical Home can be a reality for you—please call
(telephone#)

James L. Holly, MD
CEO, SETMA, LLP