The Patient-Centered Medical Home and Preconception Care: An Opportunity for Internists

The patient-centered medical home is defined by the American College of Physicians as a comprehensive approach for delivering medical care to patients. Internists have the role of caring for patients from adolescence through adulthood and have the opportunity to deliver preconception care. Preconception care is the promotion of the health and well-being of a woman and her partner before pregnancy. The goal is to improve pregnancy-related outcomes through interventions that occur before conception and before the patient would ordinarily seek prenatal care. Using the model of the patient-centered medical home, internists can provide comprehensive preconception care to improve the health of women before pregnancy and thus to decrease the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.