Primary Care Physicians Are Transforming Their Practices Into Patient-centered Medical Homes
Across the nation, primary care physicians are learning about the patient-centered medical home and evaluating their practices, looking for opportunities to provide the best care possible to their patients. Even though the research shows that the more primary care physicians you have in an area, the better the care, implementing the medical home concept is a way to apply those benefits to health system reform.
Organizations like the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, TransforMED, the American College of Physicians and the American College of Pediatricians are all working to make the medical home concept a reality, and it’s working. Policy makers and business leaders are joining the chorus of voices touting the many benefits of the medical home. As Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin puts it, “When you consider the growing cost of medical care across America, there are certain common-sense approaches that we should be turning to. Medical homes would be one of those, to make sure that primary care physicians can be in direct touch with families on a regular basis to provide them the best and most economical health care.” |
Medical Home Pilot Projects Are Providing Better Care at Lower Costs
North Carolina officials launched a primary care network called Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) designed to provide primary care medical homes and enhanced chronic care management for Medicaid patients. The network now serves more than 725,000 Medicaid patients. CCNC saved North Carolina taxpayers between $231 million and $255 million in fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania implemented the primary care medical home, complete with an integrated delivery system, EHR and other services for 2.5 million patients. Preliminary data show a 20-percent reduction in hospital admissions and a 7-percent savings in total medical costs. |
