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.

Speakers presented practical strategies from a new report for improving the strength of evidence from ongoing evaluations. Expert panelists who represented 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.