CHCE Forum: Harnessing Evidence to Redesign Primary Care
Individual practices, private payers, and state and federal governments are all making significant investments to improve the quality of primary health care and achieve better health outcomes, especially for patients with complex needs. Sustainable patient-centered medical homes were among the first of these efforts, but is there strong enough evidence for policymakers to decide whether this innovative model is working?
As the health care industry evolves and as complex new service delivery models are tested, how can we keep pace by designing approaches that help us to evaluate the true impacts of the models? The Milbank Memorial Fund, through its Multi-State Collaborative, has worked with programs in 17 states and regions to pursue the answers to these questions. To better understand the impacts of these programs, the Fund commissioned Mathematica to report on their evaluations.
Mathematica's Center on Health Care Effectiveness and the Milbank Memorial Fund presented practical strategies from a new report for improving the strength of evidence from ongoing evaluations. Expert panelists who represent the perspectives of providers and state and federal governments also talked about the kind of evidence they need if they are to understand the implications of primary care transformation for both the general population and people with chronic care needs.
Our panel of experts included:
- Ann O’Malley, Mathematica (moderator)
- Randall Brown, Mathematica (presenter)
- Nancy McCall, Mathematica (presenter)
- Christopher F. Koller, Milbank Memorial Fund (discussant)
- Lisa Dulsky Watkins, Milbank Memorial Fund (discussant)
- Renee Mentnech, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (discussant)
