Dr. Ernie Yoder, the founding dean of Central Michigan University's College of Medicine, spoke about building patient-centered medical communities. He discussed the training students receive at CMU's medical school, which focuses on team-based care and increased access to services. Yoder advocated for implementing patient-centered medical homes that would provide continuous, comprehensive care through increased screening and electronic health records shared between care teams. These reforms aim to improve health outcomes and reduce unnecessary hospitalizations. Many students were interested in CMU's community-focused approach and team-based model of care.

1. Abby Delaney
Campus
September 18th
, 2013
Headline
“The passion he exudes for the mission, the vision, of the CMU Medical School fits well with Alma's
mission.” Is how Dr. Karen Ball introduced Dr. Ernie Yoder, Founding Dean of Central Michigan
University's College of Medicine at his lecture about building healthy patient-centered communities.
For about forty minutes, Dr. Yoder spoke about the training his students receive at CMU's College of
Medicine. The school opened three years ago. Earlier in the year, Yoder had expressed the wish for
more physicians to educate the students. Now, there are seventy-one full time physicians with more
than three hundred working as volunteers. In just the first class, the student attendance is at sixty-four.
It is expected to rise to one hundred. "The closest Medical School are all the State schools and when
you think of it, they're all in the South. So for Mid to Northern Michigan, we're it." said Yoder.
"There's not just a shortage of physicians," Yoder said in his lecture, "but also a need for change in
patient care." He expresses and defends the idea of implementing Patient Center Medical Homes.
These homes would allow for patients to receive both continuous and complete care and also urgent
care, even during off-hours. The homes would also help encourage and increase getting screened,
which would result in fewer complications and fewer avoidable hospitalization.
These homes would also allow for patients to create one-on-one relationships with their caretakers.
'Caretakers' because another part of Yoder's talk was on working in teams. In the shortage of
physicians, he would like to expand the responsibilities out to all Health Care professionals: nurses,
mid-level practitioners, social workers, pharmacists, physical therapists - even the receptionist at the
hospital are people that the patient sees on a reoccurring basis.
These relationships are beneficial both ways, as well. Yoder proceeded to tell a story about a boy who
came into his hospital in Detroit a day apart from each other for three days. And on each visit, time and
money was wasted giving him the same tests, resulting in a wasted ten thousand dollars. This was all
because he was admitted under three different emergency responders who couldn't see his files. In
Patient Center Medical Homes (PCMH), files would be electronically accessible to all team members.
Also, patients would be able to access their own files at home. People with long-term conditions like
Diabetes would be able to input their own data, such as blood sugar levels and insulin intake, allowing
their doctors to monitor them as well.
With PCMH's, the work load of hospitals would shift tremendously. It would leave the leading
physician more open to readily attend to his clients. Nowadays, the average time a doctor actually
interacts with someone in a fifteen minute visit is five minutes. "If more people work together, health
professionals integrated, they could treat more patients more efficiently." said Kily Buta ('15) a
member of IHS who attended the lecture.
Pre-med junior Christelle Bangsi ('15) came into the lecture, already taking a liking to the thought of
working in a team, where there are specific roles and responsibilities for each health care professionals.
“You can never know too much.” These roles can actually be changed in priority. It is all in accordance
to the patient's need.
As the lecture winded down, many students were rather impacted by the concept of such a community-
inclusive medical school. "It wasn't quite what I thought, but now I curious. I'm comparing CMU to the
schools in Detroit, which is what I always thought was familiar." said freshman Ally Chapoton ('17).
Dr. Ernie Yoder is an Alma Alumni of nearly forty years.