Evaluation of Health Care Homes: 2010-2012

This report is the first of two legislatively mandated reports evaluating the Health Care Home initiative. It provides a preliminary evaluation of the Health Care Home (HCH) initiative. It includes a description of demographic trends, including HCH enrollee and provider demographics; the quality of care provided by HCHs and eligible non-HCH clinics; health care home payment arrangements and interactions with payment policies; racial disparities in the use of care between both HCH and eligible non-HCH clinics and within HCH clinics; and costs and use of health care services related to patients served by HCHs.

This report describes the implementation and outcomes of the Health Care Home initiative from July 2010 through December 2012 for Medicaid enrollees in certified Health Care Homes as compared to those clinics in Minnesota eligible to be HCHs but not certified. HCH and HCH-eligible clinics must provide primary care, where “primary care means overall and ongoing medical responsibility for a patient's comprehensive care for preventive care and a full range of acute and chronic conditions, including end-of-life care when appropriate.” In general, the evaluation suggests that HCHs are associated with positive trends of improved quality and reduced or equivocal costs while serving those with high medical need.