Guided Care, a new model of comprehensive health care for people with multiple chronic conditions, is moving beyond the research stage into the mainstream of health care. It is garnering attention throughout the United States and around the world as it has won several prestigious awards. APHA was the first to recognize the value of Guided Care with its “2008 Award for Excellence in Program Innovation,” which is given to one innovative model of health care for older Americans each year.

Guided Care then received the “2009 Medical Economics Award for Innovation in Practice Improvement” from the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and Medical Economics magazine. This Award recognizes innovative practice improvement programs that transform medical office processes, promote patient participation, and contribute to an office practice’s overall success.

The British Medical Journal Group named Guided Care as a finalist for its “2010 Getting Research into Practice Award.” The Award honors individuals, organizations, and initiatives that have demonstrated outstanding and measurable contributions to health care. BMJ selected Guided Care as one of four finalists from a field of 127 submissions from around the world.

Then in April 2010, the Guided Care Program at Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States won the “2010 Case in Point Platinum Award for Case Management Provider Program” and was a finalist in two other categories. Sponsored by Dorland Health, the Case In Point Platinum Awards recognize the most successful and innovative case management programs working to improve health care across the continuum.

As the Guided Care model has gained recognition, Dr. Chad Boult has accepted recent invitations to describe its methods and its promising outcomes at professional conferences in Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, China, Australia, Singapore and Israel, as well as the United States.

The Guided Care model was developed by an interdisciplinary team at Johns Hopkins University and is designed to improve quality of life and quality of care, while improving the efficiency of treating the sickest and most complex patients. Guided Care teams include a registered nurse, two to five primary care physicians, and other members of the office staff who work closely to monitor each patient’s health and offer comprehensive, coordinated, patient-centered health care. Following a comprehensive assessment and planning process, the Guided Care nurse educates and empowers patients and families, monitors their conditions monthly, and coordinates the efforts of health care professionals, hospitals and community agencies to be sure that no important health-related need slips through the cracks. Early results from a multi-site randomized controlled trial suggest that Guided Care improves the quality of care, reduces costs, reduces family caregiver strain, and improves physicians’ satisfaction with chronic care.

The research and development of Guided Care has been funded by a public-private partnership of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institute on Aging, the John A. Hartford Foundation, and the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation. For more information about Guided Care, please visit: www.GuidedCare.org. With funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation, the Lipitz Center has developed extensive materials to help practices adopt and succeed with the Guided Care model, including a step-by-step implementation manual and online courses for nurses and practice leaders. Practices can implement Guided Care within six to nine months using these resources. For details, please visit: www.MedHomeInfo.org.

The Guided Care Team at Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic accepts the 2010 Case In Point Platinum Award for Case Management Provider Program.