UnitedHealthcare Patient-Centered Medical Home Program- Arizona

UnitedHealthcare and IBM launched the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program in Arizona in 2009. Since then, more than 30 additional employers with operations in Arizona have opted to participate in the program, which offers each patient an ongoing relationship with a primary care physician who, in turn, leads a team that takes collective responsibility for each patient's care. The result is a greater level of proactive and personalized care, helping coordinate visits to specialists, mental health professional and health education. United Healthcare currently uses NCQA's PCMH recognition program or convener-defined equivalent as a basis for defining “medical home” capabilities.  It also reviews other alternative assessment and recognition programs as they become endorsed by the medical professional societies.

The  pilot program, open to UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid health plan customers, will include four to six primary-care practices from UnitedHealthcare’s physician network in Phoenix and Tucson.  UnitedHealthcare will provide the selected primary-care practices with technology, infrastructure support and care coordination, with the goal of leveraging improved information systems to enhance patient access to care, the quality and safety of the care experience, and patient satisfaction with health care providers.