Alabama

Since 1997, more than 420,000 Alabama Medicaid recipients – 80 percent children – have been assured access to a basic medical home each year through Patent 1st, the Agency’s Primary Care Case Management (PCCM) program. The statewide program operates under the authority of a 1915(b) wavier.

Today, approximately 1,100 Primary Medical Providers (PMPs) provide care to assigned patients or refer them to another provider for care. Virtually all Patient 1st PMPs are also CHIP and Blue Cross Blue Shield providers as well. The state also obtained a transformation grant that will support practices in their efforts to serve as effective medical homes by creating a statewide, central, shared interoperable electronic health information system (HIS) to link Medicaid, state health agencies, providers, and private payers.

Alabama Medicaid is striving to build on their PCCM foundation and enhance primary care quality by improving the quality of medical homes provided.  As of April 2010, the state is working to develop and adopt a definition and recognition standards.  The state is considering options for adjusting its shared savings program to better reward advanced primary care, and is considering surveying PMPs to gauge interest in different forms of practice support.

Targeted population: Medicaid/CHIP.