This article first appeared in the August/September 2008 issue of the newsletter "States in Action."

The Kansas SQII team has developed a plan to define, test, and evaluate a medical home delivery model through payment reform. Phase 1, from July 2008 through July 2009, focuses on "attaining a clearer understanding of what constitutes a medical home and its importance," according to Marcia Nelson, executive director of the Kansas Heath Policy Authority and leader of the SQII team. The plan involves working closely with physicians, consumers, Medicaid managed care plans, foundations, and other stakeholders to define and gain support for the medical home model. The model will focus on children, elderly and disabled patients, and other populations. Team members will prepare specific timetables and goals to present to the state legislature in January 2009.

During Phase II, July 2009 through July 2010, the state plans to phase in payment incentives to practitioners for adopting certain elements of the medical home model. Initially, the awards will be targeted at providers serving certain groups of Medicaid beneficiaries and state employees through the State Employee Health Benefit Program, with further populations to be added over time. There will be ongoing evaluations, and the state will make mid-course corrections depending on the results.

The team has selected two quality goals, to be achieved by 2012:

• 85 percent of all children in Kansas will have a medical home; and
• avoidable hospitalizations for pediatric asthma in Kansas will be reduced to no more than 82 per 100,000 for children ages 0 to 17 years.