Patient-Centered Medical Home
A patient-centered medical home takes a team approach to primary care and puts the patient at the center of that team. The medical home model works to broaden one’s access to primary care. St. Vincent Charity Medical Center started a patient-centered medical home in 2008 with seed funding from the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland and in its first year has already seen improvement in access and self-management of chronic conditions.
Dedicated to helping patients receive the care and services they need and deserve, the program provides patients with:
- Access to primary and preventive care through a personal relationship with a primary care physician;
- Integrated, comprehensive care and an overall focus that provides for the whole person;
- Access to medication and diagnostic testing and treatments;
- Social service support and community outreach;
- Financial assistance;
- Use of information technology;
- And a focus on quality and safety across all elements of the care system.
What is a medical home?
- Personal physician—each patient has an ongoing relationship with a personal physician trained to provide first contact, continuous and comprehensive care.
- Physician-directed medical practice—the personal physician leads a team of individuals at the practice level who collectively take responsibility for the ongoing care of patients.
- Orientation around the whole person—the personal physician is responsible for providing for the patient’s complete healthcare needs or taking responsibility for appropriately arranging care with other qualified professionals.
- Coordinated and/or integrated care—ongoing care is facilitated by registries, information technology, health information exchange and other means to ensure that patients get the proper care when and where they need it.
Srinivas Merugu, M.D. 
Dr. Srinivas Merugu is board-certified in internal medicine. In addition to leading the medical home, he is also the associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center . A member of Cuyahoga Physician Network, Dr. Merugu joined St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in 2000 as a medical resident.
Referrals and Patient Information
You can reach Dr. Merugu and the patient-centered medical home through the Health Clinic at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center . Please call, (216) 658-8410.
