The emergence of Ideal Micro Practices for patient-centered, collaborative care.

Ideal Micro Practices are capable of delivering patient-centered collaborative care. With respect to comparable adult patients in "usual" care settings, twice as many patients who use Ideal Micro Practices report they receive care that is "exactly what they want and need exactly when and how they want and need it" (68% vs 35%). Compared to usual care, these very small, low-overhead practices are more likely to have patients report very high levels of continuity (98% vs 88%), efficiency (95% vs 73%), and access (72% vs 53%). Patient ratings of very good information (83% vs 67%) and clinician awareness of pain or emotional problem are also higher (87% vs 69%). However, only a slim majority of patients using Ideal Micro Practices report that they are confident in their ability to manage and control their health problems or concerns. Ideal Micro Practices are sharing new tools and approaches to better understand their patients' needs and increase patients' confidence in their ability to manage conditions. In addition, these practices are working collaboratively to standardize their approaches and make the essential elements of Ideal Micro Practice replicable.