We've known about Legacy Medical Village in Plano, Texas, and its founder, Dr. Christopher Crow, for some time. Now, the facility--created with the notion that IT, a customer-friendly orientation and a little bit of good, old-fashioned business sense can deliver better care at a lower cost--is starting to get some attention from reform-minded citizens and politicians alike.

Exhibit A is a feature story in the Dallas Morning News. Exhibit B is the fact that the story quotes someone as unlikely as Forrest Claypool, a reform-minded commissioner on the notoriously inefficient board of Cook County, Ill., who also happens to be a friend of President Obama and an informal advisor to the White House on healthcare.

Legacy Medical Village puts multiple medical services under one roof. That in itself is not a new idea, but this facility links the various primary care, specialty and non-physician practices--think optometry and physical therapy--with electronic medical records to help coordinate care and emphasize prevention. Patients have secure email access to their practitioners and can get prescriptions refilled online. Specialists often can accommodate referrals from Crow's family practice right away.

The system may not be sustainable under current fee-for-service reimbursement models, however. One rehabilitation specialist at Legacy Medical Village reports that his salary is one-third what it used to be, thanks to the efficient nature of the facility. But Crow is undeterred.

For further details:
- check out this Dallas Morning News story

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