Performance improvements are attributed in part to tying physicians' performance bonuses to actionable patient data. But "not all medical home interventions are alike," one researcher notes.
A medical home model in Pennsylvania that provided timely and pertinent patient data to physicians and paid bonuses for the resulting improved care showed significant improvements over comparison practices, a RAND study shows.
AHA15: CEOs from Carilion Clinic, Cedars-Sinai and Trinity Health address partnerships, medical homes and urgent care
In response to the new healthcare reality of a consumer-driven market, many hospital and systems undertake new initiatives, including partnering with competitors to increase access to services, helping patients transition from primary care practices to medical homes, providing new access points for urgent care and using technology to improve access to healthcare and the overall patient experience.
PCMHs see slower growth in ED visits, lower payment per beneficiary
Medicare patients being treated in patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) had fewer ED visits than patients not cared for in a PCMH, according to a recent study of primary care practices, federally qualified health centers, and Medicare fee-for-service data.
But some doctors are trying to streamline the process and help the patient save time and money.
It’s called Patient-Centered Medical Home and two physicians stopped by FOX8 on Tuesday to talk about it — one physician with Eagle Physicians, the other with Triad Healthcare Network.
Eagle is the first medical group in the area to be PCMH-certified and this new way of caring for patients has a lot of advantages to offer.
How can providers overcome the challenges of creating the patient-centered medical home?
There are a lot of good things to be said for the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model, which has been credited with reducing healthcare costs, boosting the delivery of preventative services, and improving care coordination with patients who may have complex chronic disease management needs. But transforming the average healthcare organization into a PCMH and achieving the official designation can be a challenging proposition.
Why should providers consider the PCMH model, and what barriers might stand in their way?
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is working with health care providers throughout the region on an innovative, multi-faceted plan to better coordinate behavioral and medical health care for patients. As part of this initiative, Harvard Pilgrim has made quality grants to selected providers who are working to integrate these two facets of health care. Integration is of particular interest to those providers involved in Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH), a model that emphasizes care coordination among a patient’s specialists and primary care providers.
Patient-centered medical homes have long been thought to reduce healthcare costs. A recent study published in the journal Health Services Research confirms that they actually do.
The study looked at PCMHs recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, as well as practices that are not—referred to as the “comparison group.” It found that medical homes with the NCQA seal had lower payments from Medicare (saving money for the program), less money spent on urgent or acute care, and fewer overall visits to the emergency department among the patients they saw.
Highmark Inc.'s Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program, which launched in October 2012, is showing positive results with statistical improvements in patient care, according to company data.
Highmark Inc.'s effort to improve the way medical care is provided is showing results.
Highmark's patient-centered medical home uses a team approach in caring for patients instead of the traditional patient-doctor relationship. Among the benefits of the new model for providers in the program for at least a year was a medical spending growth rate that was 13 percent lower than the market trend, according to a survey by the insurer.
