Medical home model designed to boost quality, reduce national healthcare costs is falling short

A new approach to patient-centered medical home care focused on addressing “high-value” elements (HVE) does not drop healthcare costs for patients treated at primary care practices, according to a new study.

Clinics utilizing the new model targeted aspects of care that were projected to improve outcomes while lowering costs, such as team-based care for managing chronic diseases. Compared to non-HVE clinics, however, the redesigned approach led to fewer hospitalizations but also more visits to emergency departments and no change in costs, experts reported in the February issue of Medical Care.