A detour on the way to the medical home

Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published an update on the long-delayed Medicare Medical Home Demonstration. The September announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services of a Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Practice Demonstraton initiated by the Obama administration had raised more questions about the future of the medical home project. The explanation from CMS was brief and to the point: “At this time, CMS believes it would be impractical to pursue clearance of the Medicare Medical Home Demonstration, which has been under review at the Office of Management and Budget, given the pending legislation that would repeal it and replace it with a similar pilot.”

CMS describes the similar pilot as “an independent practitioner-based medical home pilot.” The pending legislation that describes it is the House of Representatives health care reform bill (HR 3200). The two pilots do appear similar in many respects, but one needs to read no further than subsection (a)(4) of Section 1302 “Medical Home Pilot Program” to discover a significant difference between the proposed pilot and its would-be predecessor. Under “Participation of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants,” the bill stipulates that nurse practitioners and physician assistants may lead patient-centered medical homes as long they are acting consistently with state law and other requirements are met.  

Family physicians concerned about turf issues may see this as a setback. The good news is that primary care and medical homes are still the focus of discussion and legislation in Washington, even though the first Medicare medical home demonstration, which many believed would help breathe new life into family medicine, is apparently at death’s door.

Posted at 01:58PM Nov 03, 2009 by Leigh Ann Backer  |  Comments[0]

Medicare's medical home demonstration project: Old news?

A recent press release from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announcing plans for a demonstration project designed around "Advanced Primary Care models" left us, and perhaps many of you, with two big questions: What is the status of the much-anticipated and long-delayed Medicare medical home demonstration project? What is an Advanced Primary Care model? We now have at least partial answers to these questions.

The Medicare medical home demonstration project is at least briefly mentioned in a fact sheet that describes the newer initiative: "CMS will move forward with a separate Medical Home Demonstration required under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) and the Tax Relief & Health Care Act of 2006 (TRHCA)." But the time frame for the project remains unclear. The original schedule called for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to announce in December 2008 the states where the demonstration would be conducted. The application and qualification processes were to have played out this year, and payments to participating practices were to have begun in January 2010. James Coan, a CMS project officer, said in the spring that the eight states have been selected, but CMS is still awaiting approval from the White House Office of Management and Budget to move forward with the project. That approval was first expected nearly a year ago.

The HHS fact sheet says the Advanced Primary Care model that the new project is designed to test is "also known as the patient-centered medical home." The reason for the new term will have to be the subject of a future blog post, but here's what we do know: The project will build on a model being tested in Vermont, where private insurers and the state's Medicaid program are collaborating to develop standards and compensation incentives for primary care physicians. The demonstration project will create opportunities for Medicare to join in similar efforts. Application materials will be developed this fall with the expectation that the demonstration projects will begin in 2010, according to the release. Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, called the project "a jump start on health insurance reform." Given the uncertainty surrounding the Medicare medical home demonstration, you have to wonder whether government health programs are capable of such a thing.

Posted at 02:24PM Oct 02, 2009 by Leigh Ann Backer  |  Comments[0]