Two-year study will assess how primary care clinics transform
BLOOMINGTON, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The HealthPartners Research Foundation has received an US Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant to study the transformation of traditional primary care clinics in Minnesota to “health care homes,” also known as “medical homes.”
Leif Solberg, MD, senior investigator and director for care improvement research at the HealthPartners Research Foundation, received the $596,000 grant to conduct a two-year study, “Evaluating Statewide Transformation of Primary Care to Medical Homes.”
In a health care home, care is coordinated through:
- Improved access and communication systems
- Registries to track the needs of patients with complex conditions
- Care coordination and care plans
- Performance reporting/quality improvement to ensure that patients get the appropriate care when they need it.
The health care home model is designed to improve health outcomes while lowering costs.
Solberg will work with the Minnesota Departments of Health and Human Services, which are responsible for a legislative initiative to transform traditional primary care clinics to health care homes. With Minnesota Community Measurement and other partners, they will test whether clinics that have transformed their practice by implementing health care homes also see better quality of care of patients with diabetes or heart disease. They will then interview and survey successful clinics to identify key changes most important for transformation.
The study will also compare more and less transformed clinics in health care costs and utilization and patient and clinician/staff satisfaction. “We will work with our partner organizations to help all state primary care clinics transform and with national partners to disseminate the lessons widely,” said Solberg, who is also associate medical director for HealthPartners Medical Group.
Disclaimer: This project is supported by grant R18HS019161 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
HealthPartners Research Foundation
The HealthPartners Research Foundation (www.hprf.org) is part of the HealthPartners family of care. Conducting about 250 research projects each year, HPRF is dedicated to discovering and accelerating the use of knowledge to improve the health and health care of our members, patients and the community. Founded in 1957, HealthPartners (www.healthpartners.com) is the nation’s largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization, providing care, coverage, research and education for 1.25 million medical and dental health plan members nationwide.
CONTACT:
HealthPartners
Jessica Flannigan, 952-883-7410
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America Minnesota
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Hospitals Research Science Managed Care
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