Successful models of patient-centered primary care can not only demonstrate for physicians the feasibility of delivering such care, but they can provide useful information for developing tools that improve patients' experiences. With Fund support, Susan Edgman-Levitan of Massachusetts General Hospital is documenting the experiences of 12 patient-centered primary care practices. After identifying top practices through patient survey data, Edgman-Levitan will assess how various aspects of each organization—from leadership style to use of technology to quality improvement methods—affect patients' experiences with physician care.

The Fund is supporting the Pacific Business Group on Health, meanwhile, to assess whether a Breakthrough Series Learning Collaborative of 13 practices in California is the type of intervention that can boost patient experience. Additional support for a Dartmouth College project led by John Wasson, M.D., will enable a Medicare quality improvement organization (QIO) to assist primary care practices in integrating Web-based patient surveys and other technologies that facilitate patient-centered care. The hope is that many other practices and QIOs will replicate this model if it is shown to improve patient-centeredness and increase office efficiency.

In the coming months, the Patient-Centered Primary Care Initiative will seek a better understanding of which features of a patient-centered practice are meaningful to patients and associated with high-quality care. Curricula, tools, and models under development will give physicians practical guidance on reorganizing their practices around patient-centered care. And policy analysis and demonstration projects will ensure that patients' experiences are taken into account in efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of primary care.