Patient-Centered Medical Home Complements Healthcare Reform

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model challenges primary care providers to raise the bar on care coordination, population health management, clinical analytics, and access to care, but healthcare organizations that undertake these important quality transformations are usually left to foot the bill themselves.  In a reimbursement landscape that remains, for the most part, rooted in fee-for-service payment, the incentive to pay out of pocket for these massive and costly changes can be hard to find.

But the PCMH doesn’t ask for investment without promising return, and federal healthcare reform efforts are doing their part to accelerate the possibility of ROI by expanding value-based payment initiatives that align perfectly with the principles of the PCMH.

With the help of regulators, rule makers, vendors, and dedicated primary care providers, the healthcare industry is slowly breaking down the barriers that prevent care delivery models and payment reforms from working together for the greater good.

Marci Nielsen, PhD, MPH, CEO of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC), contributes toHealthITAnalytics.com’s practice transformation series with a one-on-one Q&A exploring the intersection of the patient-centered medical home with healthcare reform plans, the health IT market, and accountable care efforts that hope to share more savings for all.