January 28, 2013 Gabriel Perna
article
Thanks to the drive and commitment of Stacy Zimmerman, M.D., an internal medicine and pediatrics physician, Ozark Internal Medicine and Pediatrics in rural Clinton, Ark. has been on an impressive path to patient-centered medical home (PCMH), which essentially began the day she started her practice, approximately nine years ago. Zimmerman is the lone physician of the practice and works alongside two nurse practitioners.
January 17, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has launched a credential program—Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Content Expert Certification—that gives individuals a way to demonstrate their knowledge of the NCQA PCMH recognition program, an innovative program for improving primary care.
October 25, 2012 David Raths
blog
The patient-centered medical home model has the potential to reduce the cost and increase the quality of care for patients with multiple chronic conditions. But are the health IT tools available today adequate to support the tasks of clinic care managers?
September 27, 2012
news
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced grants that that will aim to improve the quality of care at 810 community health centers while helping them become patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) and increase their rates of cervical cancer screening.
September 15, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
As David Share, M.D. and his colleagues at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan collaborate forward with local providers to master care management and utilization strategies, the criticality of leveraging analytics thoughtfully becomes ever-more-apparent. We’ll be discussing these issues in our upcoming Healthcare Informatics webinar on Sept. 25, and learning from the experiences of some of the most pioneering organizations nationwide.
September 12, 2012
news
According to an 18-month study from researchers at the University of Connecticut (UConn) and EmblemHealth, a New York-based health insurance company, small practices can make an easier transition to patient-centered medical home (PCMH) status when they are provided with external support. The study, which defines a small practice as 10 or less physicians, says this support includes practice redesign, care management, and payment reform.
September 9, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
In Michigan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has implemented and grown a patient-centered medical home initiative that is already the largest in the country, with over 3,000 physicians involved. What David Share, M.D. and his colleagues are learning has strong implications for PCMH development nationwide.
August 30, 2012
news
The American Health Care Association (AHCA), the Washington D.C.-based association of long-term and acute-care providers for frail, elderly, and disabled Americans, is implementing a technology, from Lexington, Mass.-based PointRight Inc., a data analytics firm, which aims to help providers reduce readmissions. AHCA says the technology, OnPoint-30, can use minimum data set and analytics to calculate case-mix adjusted hospital readmission rates that inform providers what measures they are doing well in, and where they need to improve.
August 27, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
With greater policy certainty assured by the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the constitutionality of healthcare reform this summer, industry pioneers are beginning to shape the new healthcare, and moving forward on a broad range of population health-based concepts. The strategic challenges—and opportunities—for healthcare IT leaders can’t be overstated.
August 23, 2012
news
Eight Colorado Beacon Consortium practices at nine sites will participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center recently announced. The Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative is an Innovation Center demonstration project aimed at creating collaboration between private health plans, Medicare and Medicaid to support and strengthen primary care.
August 23, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
As technology becomes more pervasive in healthcare, examples of how it is being used effectively to improve care are cropping up everywhere. I came across one example yesterday, during a conference call regarding the announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the selection of primary care practices to participate in the agency’s Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative.
August 22, 2012 John DeGaspari
article
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Aug. 22 announced a roster of 500 primary care practices in seven regions that will participate in its Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, a public-private partnership to strengthen primary care. The initiative includes participation by CMS, state Medicaid agencies, commercial health plans, self-insured businesses, and primary care providers.
