Progress Report on a Landmark Medical Home Initiative for the Underserved
A multistate, multiyear initiative to bring the medical home model of primary care to the most vulnerable U.S. populations, including low-income and underserved communities, is the focus of a <a href="http://journals.lww.com/lww-medicalcare/toc/2014/11001">special supplement</a> to the journal <em>Medical Care </em>published online today.<br /><br />
Nine articles present the progress made and lessons learned from the 2008–2013 Safety Net Medical Home Initiative (SNMHI), which tested a replicable, sustainable model for transforming primary care safety-net practices into patient-centered medical homes that meet benchmark levels of quality, efficiency, and patient experience. The program was implemented at 65 physician practices in Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Pennsylvania in an effort to improve patient care, retain high-quality primary care providers, and control costs.<br />
<br />
“For anyone seeking to transform the American health care system, the SNMHI experience provides important lessons to demonstrate how practice redesign can be achieved,” said Jonathan Sugarman, M.D., principal investigator for the SNMHI and Qualis Health President and CEO. The initiative was led by Qualis Health and the MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation, supported by The Commonwealth Fund and eight local foundations. For more information and resources, visit <a href="http://www.safetynetmedicalhome.org/">www.SafetyNetMedicalHome.org</a>… />
<br />
The <em>Medical Care </em>supplemental issue was made possible with support from the Fund, and features manuscripts contributed by Qualis Health, the MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation at the Group Health Research Institute, The University of Chicago, and The Commonwealth Fund.