Governing magazine looks at how the Feds’ new Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program will affect how 20,000 doctors serve 25 million patients. The five-year program, which will be launched next January, will pay participating providers a fixed monthly fee, along with bonuses for meeting various health goals. Traditionally, those providers have been reimbursed based on the number of patient visits or procedures. “That approach has long been lambasted by healthcare experts as a big reason for rising costs,” the magazine noted.
The new move could encourage states to adopt the “healthcare home” model that’s been shown not only to improve health outcomes but also to save billions of dollars. Despite the potential, states have not widely embraced it.
Governing looks at one state that has embraced it — Minnesota.
“The Land of 10,000 Lakes” has become a model for healthcare homes, a program that has saved it more than $1 billion over the past five years, said a study by the University of Minnesota earlier this year. “These healthcare homes embody precisely what advocates of a coordinated healthcare system want: a one-stop shop for a patient to get all of her health needs met in as few visits as possible.”
One state that has become a model for health-care homes is Minnesota, which has saved more than $1 billion over the past five years by investing in that form of care, according to a study by the University of Minnesota earlier this year. These health-care homes embody precisely what advocates of a coordinated health-care system want: a one-stop shop for a patient to get all of her health needs met in as few visits as possible.
