Naval Hospital Jacksonville is scheduled to conduct a pilot of value-based care for Navy Medicine worldwide, beginning Oct. 1.

This innovative strategy focuses on results which matter most to patients -- from feeling healthy and having a sense of well-being, to being able to do daily activities and fulfill life roles like work and family.

"Naval Hospital Jacksonville is at the tip of the spear in keeping our Navy and Marine Corps family ready, healthy and on the job," said Capt. David Collins, NH Jacksonville commanding officer. "It's all about providing better health outcomes."

Value-based care focuses on doing what's right for patients, in ways convenient and acceptable to them. The goal is improved patient outcomes, increased readiness, higher patient satisfaction, and improved value with optimal resource utilization.

Value-based care organizes care around patients with similar needs and medical conditions.

NH Jacksonville has developed four multidisciplinary teams -- called integrated practice units (IPUs) -- for diabetes, lower back pain, osteoarthritis and complicated pregnancy. These are four relatively common medical conditions in the command's diverse patient population.

NH Jacksonville is currently enrolling patients with the most complex cases, who can gain greatest benefits from the value-based approach.

Each IPU consists of a dedicated team of providers who are focused on that condition. The team is responsible for the full cycle of care -- outpatient, inpatient and support services =- for each condition. The team uses evidence-based strategies to monitor treatment and enable patients to reach their health goals. Team members vary by IPU, but include a primary provider and multiple specialties such as pharmacy, behavioral health, nutrition, wellness, pain management, neurology, orthopedics, physical therapy and radiology. A care navigator is also part of each IPU to help patients along the way.

IPU patients can expect to see personalized care plans which include their personal goals, individual and group appointments with the team, fewer appointments in general to save patients' time, and enhanced communications.

In addition to the common quality measures physicians use such as procedure success rates, value-based care also tracks patients' reports over time, of how well they're able to do daily activities.

While each IPU provides the care for its condition of focus, patients enrolled in IPUs also remain part of their Medical Home Port team. This includes continued access to the appointment line, 24/7 Nurse Advice Line (800-TRICARE/800-874-2273), RelayHealth secure email messaging (http://www.RelayHealth.org/), pharmacy home delivery (http://www.tricare.mil/homedelivery/), and Patient/Customer Relations to help improve the care experience.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, NH Jacksonville's priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation's heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the Navy's third largest hospital and five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. Of its patient population of 163,000 active and retired Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, guardsmen, and their families, about 85,000 are enrolled with a primary care manager and Medical Home Port team at one of its facilities.

To find out more or download the command's mobile app, visit http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax/.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Hospital Jacksonville, visit http://www.navy.mil/.