HHS' primary care demo funds 500 centers with $42M
Five hundred community health centers in 44 states across the country will receive approximately $42 million over three years to improve the coordination and quality of care to Medicare patients, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.
Under the Advanced Primary Care Practice demonstration, created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Medicare will pay community health centers based on the quality of care they deliver. This payment system will reward clinics for such things as helping patients manage chronic conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure, HHS stated.
In addition, health centers will use this funding to expand their hours, make same day appointments and accommodate patients with urgent care needs.
The demonstration will be conducted from Nov. 1, 2011 through Oct. 31, 2014. Participating health centers will be paid a monthly fee for each eligible person with Medicare that receives primary care services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and the Health Resources Services Administration will provide technical assistance to help participating community health centers throughout the demonstration.
To study the process and challenges involved in transforming community health centers into advanced primary care practices, the Innovation Center will conduct an independent evaluation of the demonstration. The evaluation will assess the project’s impact on hospital admission rates, emergency department visits rates, access, quality and cost of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. The evaluation will also assess whether the demonstration was cost effective, HHS added.
Under the Advanced Primary Care Practice demonstration, created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Medicare will pay community health centers based on the quality of care they deliver. This payment system will reward clinics for such things as helping patients manage chronic conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure, HHS stated.
In addition, health centers will use this funding to expand their hours, make same day appointments and accommodate patients with urgent care needs.
The demonstration will be conducted from Nov. 1, 2011 through Oct. 31, 2014. Participating health centers will be paid a monthly fee for each eligible person with Medicare that receives primary care services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and the Health Resources Services Administration will provide technical assistance to help participating community health centers throughout the demonstration.
To study the process and challenges involved in transforming community health centers into advanced primary care practices, the Innovation Center will conduct an independent evaluation of the demonstration. The evaluation will assess the project’s impact on hospital admission rates, emergency department visits rates, access, quality and cost of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. The evaluation will also assess whether the demonstration was cost effective, HHS added.