Kansas Patient Centered Medical Home Initiative Pilot Sites Announced
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Pilot practices selected to lead transformation in the state.
WICHITA, KS — The Kansas Patient Centered Medical Home Initiative (PCMHI) announces the selection of 8 physician-led practices to participate in the Kansas PCMHI Pilot Project as part of the larger PCMH Initiative. With the official launch scheduled to kick off July 1, 2011, the 24-month Pilot Project will serve as a focal point for health care transformation in the state of Kansas.
The selected practices include:
- American Medical Practice of Winfield/Augusta Family Practice, PA, Winfield
- Cheyenne County Clinic, Cheyenne County Hospital, St. Francis
- Ellsworth County Medical Center and Rural Health Clinic, Ellsworth
- Mindi S. Garner, D.O., Chartered, Pittsburg
- Great Plains of Sabetha, Inc. dba Sabetha Family Practice, Sabetha
- Internal Medicine Group, PA, Lawrence
- KU Wichita Adult Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine – Wichita, Medical Practice Association, Wichita
- Plainville Medical Clinic, Plainville
The PCMH health care delivery model can best be described as a patient-centered model designed for patients to receive the right care at the right time, lowering health care costs and improving the health care consumer’s overall health across the health care system. For health care providers it can mean improved collaboration, communication, and improved patient outcomes.
This PCMH model was developed in response to the Future of Family Medicine project in early 2000. The goal was to develop a solution in response to recognized discontent among family physicians, frustrated in their ability to provide the highest quality care for their patients, in the context of a health care delivery system that did not facilitate their primary health care role. In June 2006, the innovative National Demonstration Project (NDP) rigorously tested this new model of flexible, patient-centered care.
The Kansas PCMH Initiative kicked off January 1, 2011 under the collaborative leadership of the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, Kansas Association of Osteopathic Medicine, Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kansas Chapter of the American College of Physicians, and the Kansas Medical Society.
In April of 2011, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas pledged payer support for the 8 selected pilots. “Blue Cross is committed to exploring the patient-centered medical home model as we believe this model of care could well be the wave of the future for primary care,” said Michael D. Atwood, M.D., chief medical officer for BCBSKS and family physician. “If this pilot proves successful, it may provide a model for possible expansion to a wider group of primary care physicians in the near future.”
Major funding for Kansas PCMH Initiative is provided by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, a philanthropy based in Hutchinson, Kansas; Sunflower Foundation: Health Care for Kansans, a Topeka-based philanthropic organization with the mission to serve as a catalyst for improving the health of Kansans; and the Kansas Health Foundation, a private philanthropy dedicated to improving the health of all Kansans.
For more information about these organizations visit: http://www.healthfund.org; http://www.sunflowerfoundation.org; and http://www.kansashealth.org. The initiative has gained additional support from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Systems in Sync Grant.
About the KAFP
The Kansas Academy of Family Physicians is the largest medical specialty society in the state, with a total of 1,570 members. The mission of the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians is to promote access to, and excellence in, health care for all Kansans through education and advocacy for family physicians and their patients. The KAFP is affiliated with the American Academy of Family Physicians, the national association for family physicians.
For more information about the Patient Centered Medical Home Initiative program and its partners, please visit http://www.kafponline.org/kspcmh/.