Tucked into the depths of the 1,018 pages of the House health care bill is $125 million to fund a program that looks at the medical home . In a medical home, a primary care provider (such as a family doctor, internist, pediatrician or nurse practitioner) gets paid to serve as the main point of contact for a patient and coordinate care among specialists and other community resources. That kind of thing often doesn’t get paid for in the current reimbursement system. And better coordination might improve patients’ quality of care and save money, for instance, by reducing redundant lab tests. (Though some efforts to improve coordination have failed to save money.) But medical home pilot projects have been around for a while now. And in the context of a bill expected to cost $1 trillion,

$125 million is a relatively paltry sum. The pilot program that the House lays out on pages 460 to 479 of its bill will look to evaluate two different types of medical homes, those run by a physician or nurse practitioner-directed practice — known as the independent medical home — and those run by nonprofit community organizations or the state. The Senate HELP committee bill outlines funding for a similar program, but there are more details in the House version. A number of clinical outcomes will be assessed, including whether there’s improvement in the quality and coordination of health-care services, the efficiency of care and patient satisfaction and reductions in emergency room visits and hospital readmissions.

Read more from the original source:
Primary Care Update: House Health Bill On Medical Homes