Clinical Systems Innovation:
Ambulatory Practice of the Future &
The Virtual Practice Project

A NEW APPROACH TO PATIENT-CENTRIC PRIMARY CARE MEDICINE USING CARE TEAMS, SMART TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATIVE SPACE AND PROCESSES

With CIMIT support, the “Of-the-Futures” learning-laboratory model has spread to other settings across the continuum of care. The MGH Ambulatory Practice of the Future opened its doors to patients in July 2010 with the mission of designing the ambulatory care practice that delivers ideal care in the ideal environment to optimize outcomes for patients and satisfaction for clinicians. The goal is for the patient-doctor relationship to become a true partnership. In this new approach, patients will have vastly improved access to their care team through face-to-face office visits, email visits, and other types of remote or virtual visits. Innovative point-of-care technologies will be introduced into the exam room to improve the efficiency and enhance the experience for both patient and caregiver. Changes from today's paradigm of care will shift to a model of continuous, customized, iterative and well-informed care treating patients in the environments most convenient to them.

The areas for focused research for this initiative include The Care Experience, Care Team Communication, The Virtual Practice and The Physical Practice.

The Ambulatory Practice of the Future is an innovative physical space redesigned to leverage process re-engineering, redefinition of team roles, remote physiologic monitoring and virtual outreach for patient-centric care at MGH. The final product is an IT-rich ambulatory practice environment, which includes remote conferencing and consulting; on-site or remote scheduling and check in; and virtual visits, including remote monitoring and automatic recording of vital signs to electronic medical records.

Virtual Practice Project: In the News

9.1.10
WGBH Podcast: Dr. Ron Dixon on The Callie Crossley Show -
Communication Technologies and Healthcare

8.24.10
Dr. Ron Dixon in the News -
Health Affairs (abstract): Enhancing Primary Care Through Online Communication

Boston Globe: Prescription for primary care. MGH internist urges online communication between physician and patient

7.16.09
BigThink.com Dr. Ronald Dixon Featured 'Healthcare Revolution'
Expert Video Series:

VIDEO: Making Primary Care The Primary Focus

VIDEO: Fulfilling Healthcare’s Digital Promise

VIDEO: Downloading Health: Why Don’t Doctors Use Text Messaging and Email?

VIDEO: Tough Medicine: A Big Think Interview With Ron Dixon About Reinventing Healthcare

6.1.09
The Boston Globe: The doctor will see you now online. Why your next physician's visit may be just a click away