The Governor’s Health Quality and Cost Council has identified the establishment of a Medical Home pilot as one of its three priorities for 2009-2010. Important infrastructure to support Medical Homes has also been established. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Maryland Health Care Commission have committed to staff this initiative. In addition, the Maryland General Assembly passed House Bill 706 (Electronic Health Records – Regulation and Reimbursement) that will require public and private payers in the State to assist providers in the acquisition of the EHR systems that are critical to Medical Home implementation. In 2009, the Health Services Cost Review Commission in approved $10 million in funding for a health information exchange financed via a small surcharge on hospital rates. The Governor's Council created the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Workgroup to work toward creating an all-payer medical home pilot workgroup. Three subgroups consisting of workgroup members and other stakeholders have been formed. The subgroups further analyze issues and present conclusions to the Workgroup.
The Medical Home Foundations Subgroup is charged with:
• Defining the medical home and recognition method.
• Defining participants (types of providers, patients, payers, purchasers).
• Designating the recognition methods.
• Delineating measurement methods for quality, efficiency, and satisfaction.
The Practice Transformation Subgroup is charged with:
• Identifying technical and financial challenges for practices considering adoption of a PCMH model.
• Determining sources of technical and infrastructure support, including private and public funding.
• Determining the steps needed to sustain PCMHs once established.
• Identifying legal issues that need resolution, including Medicaid participation, anti-trust and safeharbor issues.
The Purchasers and Consumer Education Subgroup will be charged with:
• Developing provider recruitment and training strategies.
• Creating standards for a patient education program focused on why it is important to have a medical home, assistance in matching patients and PCMHs.
Legislative and funding support has been established for an information technology/sharing infrastructure. Work is still required to develop purchasing/reimbursement policies, provide practice coaching, and set benchmarks for measuring progress.
Targeted population: children and adults
