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Week in Review: We Heart Medical Home

We Medical Home
Thursday, February 14th

Dear Members and Friends:

Happy Valentine's Day! In honor of this special day we'd like to express our thanks to all of you for your efforts to "spread the love" for the medical home and its critical role in transforming our health care system.

This week we saw major support from the private and public sector, including Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey's announcement to expand their medical home program to a total of 200,000 members. In addition, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management issued a carrier letter encouraging participating health plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to reduce costs and improve quality of care for more than 8 million Americans by connecting enrollees with medical home practices and providers.

I also want to remind you that we have a great webinar at Noon ET today. It will be hosted by Dr. Bill Warning, co-chair of PCPCC's Education & Training task force, and will include a discussion on how to build an interdisciplinary primary care residency program.

Thanks again to all of you for your commitment to the medical home!

Sincerely,

Marci Nielsen, PhD, MPH
Chief Executive Officer

Stakeholder Centers Launch Medical Home Virtual 'Town Halls'

This week we kicked off our Stakeholder Centers' Virtual Town Halls! Feel free to join in on these remaining Open Forum Calls to:

Learn more about each Stakeholder Centers' role within PCPCC
Hear directly from center co-chairs about goals and objectives for the coming year
Engage in an interactive dialogue and cast your vote about what you'd like to see in the coming year!

Click here to register.

Upcoming Webinars
Strengthening the Primary Care Workforce

TODAY! Thurs, Feb. 14th Noon ET: Lessons from the Field: Building a Medical Home Residency Training Program for Medicine Departments and Health Centers

Thurs, Feb. 28th Noon ET: Easing the Transition: Core Principles and Values for Building Effective Care Teams

Call for Submissions: Innovative Residency & Health Professional Training Models We're looking for innovative 'medical home-friendly' training models that promote collaborative, patient-centered primary care. Submissions will be used to build an online database and publication to inform policymakers and other stakeholders.

New Infographic
Answers Key Medical Home Questions

A new infographic from Greenway Medical Technologies answers some key questions about the medical home and its impact on the health care system, including private sector support, a breakdown of reimbursement models used, and much more.

Health Care on the Hill:
The Lowdown on the 'Doc Fix'

Lawmakers offer dueling approaches on fixing doc pay Modern Healthcare, 2/6. Provides an overview of the bill from Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) and a three-stage framework from Ways and Means:

Kaiser Health News provides a collection of articles about the Schwartz bill: Bipartisan Duo Introduces Medicare 'Doc Fix' Bill In House; as well as An FAQ on Medicare Doctor Pay: Why Is It So Hard To Fix?

Today, the Health Subcommittee (Chairman Pitts, R-Pa.) of House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing titled "SGR [Sustainable Growth Rate]: Data, Measures and Models; Building a Future Medicare Physician Payment System."

Medical Home Happenings
News from Around the Country

Richard Baron, MD, named President & CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine Marketwatch, 2/13. Baron will assume leadership of the organization in June 2013, succeeding Christine Kassel, MD.

HHS partners with Illinois on health insurance marketplace HHS press release, 2/13. HHS grants conditional approval to the state exchange; enrollment is expected to begin in October.

Feds 'E-health' initiative reaches out to patients Politico, 2/11. Farzad Mostashari outlines plans to expand access, promote innovation, and ensure privacy while giving patients and families a bigger role in their care.

FAQ on medicare doctor pay: Why is it so hard to fix? Kaiser Health News, 2/10. An overview of the "doc fix" issue and a breakdown of recommendations to alleviate the problem.