Six health plans pay $1.5M to create medical homes in Hudson Valley

Six health plans--Aetna, CDPHP, Hudson Health Plan, MVP Health Care, UnitedHealthcare and Empire BlueCross Blue Shield--in cooperation with Taconic Health Information Network and Community (THINC) paid $1.5 million this year to 236 primary care physicians in 11 practices that achieved patient-centered medical home (PCMH) recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The incentives were paid to providers for transformation to a PCMH and for services patients receive in a medical home.

Nearly half a million patients in New York's Hudson Valley can now call their primary care physician offices patient-centered medical homes, according to the Fishkill, N.Y.-based THINC.

THINC, in partnership with Taconic IPA and supported by technical expertise from Geisinger Health System, aims to bring a model of embedded care management within NCQA Level 3 patient-centered medical homes to achieve gains in efficiency and quality. Geisinger's ProvenHealth Navigator program will be tailored to meet the specific needs of the Hudson Valley, according to THINC.

The program will start with a small pilot at several sites with the ultimate goal of rolling out to medical home recognized primary care providers across the community, the nonprofit added.

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