Patient-Centered Medical Home Evidence Increases With Time

The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative also recently reported that NCQA PCMHs distinguish accountable care organizations (ACOs) that improve from those that do not. The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs with more NCQA PCMHs had greater average savings than those with fewer or zero PCMHs. For example, those ACOs with the second-lowest quartile of PCMH inclusion showed a savings of 1.9 percent compared to the lowest quartile—sizable, given MSSP’s overall 0.6 percent savings rate. More NCQA PCMHs also meant higher quality on health promotion, health status, prevention, and chronic disease management, including pneumococcal vaccinations, tobacco cessation, depression screening, and diabetic and coronary artery disease measures. The study looked at 2014 MSSP data with mature NCQA PCMHs that met more rigorous, updated standards. As part of ACOs, these PCMH practices had strong and clear incentives to improve on both cost and quality.