Contact:
Kristin C. Marshall
(518) 641-5031
kmarshall@cdphp.com
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Email This Page
Print This Page
CDPHP® LAUNCHES INITIATIVE DESIGNED TO SAVE PRIMARY CARE IN THE CAPITAL REGION
Patient-Centered Medical Home Project Features Three Area Practices
ALBANY, NY - CDPHP® today announced a two-year patient-centered medical home project designed to address the national primary care crisis and transform primary care practice and payment models in the Capital District. The three area practices pioneering the region’s first medical home initiative are CapitalCare Family Practice, Clifton Park; Latham Medical Group, Family Practice Division of Community Care Physicians, PC; and Community Care Physicians, PC, Schodack.
“As a nationally recognized innovator in the pursuit of quality care for the community, CDPHP believes its patient-centered medical home project will save the practice of primary care in this region and serve as a model for the community to follow,” said Bruce D. Nash, MD, MBA, senior vice president, medical affairs, and chief medical officer (CMO), CDPHP.
Studies have shown that when members have ready access to primary care — defined as first contact, comprehensive, coordinated, continuous, and personalized care — they experience improved health status, lower cost, and more equitable distribution of care. Currently, the fee-for-service reimbursement model erodes that mission by forcing practitioners to see as many patients as possible in order to stay profitable, and does not compensate doctors for services such as phone calls and paperwork.
“There has been a storm brewing in primary care for some time,” said Denis Chagnon, MD, Latham Medical Group. “We’ve seen it happening nationally. We see it in our own backyards. In order to improve the system, we have to make dramatic practice and payment modifications.”
To help the program participants navigate the challenges associated with practice and payment reform, CDPHP has partnered with industry experts Terry McGeeney, MD, MBA, CEO, TransforMED; Bruce Bagley, MD, Medical Director for Quality Improvement for the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP); Allan Goroll, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; and Arlene Ash, Ph.D., Research Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Boston University School of Medicine and co-founder of DxCG.
“The patient-centered medical home model of care involves the reorganization of primary care practices to deliver better outcomes and restructures payment to be commensurate with value – not volume,” said Goroll. “The model calls for not only compensating physicians for their office visits, but for their entire scope of care coordination, adoption of technology, enhanced access, and superior clinical outcomes.”
It is believed that a patient-centered medical home transformation can be achieved through:
- A physician-led multidisciplinary team
- Utilizing evidence-based medicine
- Organizing care by severity, but enhancing care for all
- Care planning with family and patients
- More face-to-face interaction, supplemented by non-visit based care
- Incorporating health information technology (HIT)
McGeeney, CEO of TransforMED, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the AAFP, is an integral advisor in the practice aspect. His organization recently concluded a two-year, $8 million national demonstration project to test the patient-centered medical home model of care in family medicine practices of varying sizes across the country.
“CDPHP, as a physician-founded and guided plan, has the right foundation to make this transformation successful,” said McGeeney. “And because they are stepping outside of the norm and exploring the payment reform side as well, they will help us determine if the patient-centered medical home model of care saves money, which in turn, will help countless practices across the country.”
The Long-Term Prognosis
If the CDPHP patient-centered medical home project is successful, the Albany-based health plan hopes to offer the model to all of its other participating practices that meet the necessary criteria. The goal is to not only transform practice methods and establish a new reimbursement model, but to reinvigorate primary care and encourage medical students to enter the field. Ultimately, the community would reap the highest reward with better quality, lower costs, and more accessible health care.
About CDPHP®
Founded and guided by physicians, CDPHP® and its affiliates currently serve members in 29 counties throughout New York state and seven counties in Vermont. The four affiliated companies of CDPHP include a family of products: Capital District Physicians' Health Plan, Inc.—HMO, Healthy New York, Medicare Choice, Medicaid, Child Health Plus, and Family Health Plus. CDPHP Universal Benefits,® Inc. (UBI) —PPO, High Deductible PPO, POS, and EPO. Capital District Physicians' Healthcare Network, Inc. —self-insured plans; and APA Partners, Inc. —third party administration (TPA). Visit CDPHP at www.cdphp.com.
# # #
Back To Main