On February 22 in beautiful downtown San Antonio Texas, 34 Soldiers and civilians from Primary Care Army Medical Homes from across Army Medicine attended the first Army Medical Home Medical Director Training. The week long training brings together primary care leaders from medical homes across the Army to learn, discuss, collaborate, and share challenges and solutions to those challenges The training focused on Patient Centered Medical Home foundational knowledge, operating principles, access to care and leading practices.

Col. (Dr.) Jeanne Tofferi, Chief Primary Care Service Line, United States Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) explained " Medical Directors need to understand the Medical Home model including the Army's way of conducting and evaluating the business of Medicine to successfully lead their practices into the future.." The Army Medical Home model encompasses all primary care delivery sites in the direct care system; including Health Readiness Platform based Medical Homes, Community Based Medical Homes and Soldier Centered Medical Homes.

A variety of subject matter experts from across Army Medicine provided the attendees with briefings on patient centered care, access, employee relations, virtual care, coding and other topics. To test the attendees' foundational knowledge, the attendees were given a pre-test at the start of the week and a post-test at the end of the week. The tests provide a benchmark for future trainings to focus and expand upon.

A capstone for the week the attendees were divided into teams and given a case study that focused on optimizing medical care at a medical home. Each team presented on what they found, next steps and proposed solutions to assist the medical home.

Capt. (Dr.) Jenna Silakoski, Medical Director for Copperas Cove Medical Home Fort Hood Texas explained "attending the training was such an eye opener; I now better understand the aspects and intentions of the Army Medical Home as a Patient Centered Medical Home model. I feel like the information provided will be easily disseminated to the other eight clinics in our department and really help the primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician's assistants better support the model and its intentions." Silakoski said she also realized how difficult it is to pull a medical home together and how it really does take every single person within that unit to make it (the Medical Home) work.

According to Tofferi, this type of sustainment training will continue to improve Army Medical Homes along with the comprehensive, patient-centered care that they provide to our beneficiaries.