The Agency y for Healthcare Research and Quality has committed approximately $4 million to increase understanding of PCMH transformation and spread through R18-HS019150-02.With a relatively small additional investment, the activities put forth in this proposal can leverage the work being done through by these investigative teams to synthesize and disseminate PCMH knowledge-base. Furthermore, through the U18-HS020988 IMPaCT program, we and other grantees can inform development of the primary care extension service infrastructure across the 17 states involved. The Pennsylvania State College of Medicine (PSCOM) is proposing a conference that will bring the 14 R18 grantees together with recognized PCMH experts to discuss best practice strategies identified in critical topical areas that cut across the 14 studies. These areas include: (1) context, (2) qualitative research methodology, (3) care management, (4) team-based care/buy-in, (5) mental models and (6) patient perspectives. To our knowledge, the findings resulting from this gathering will represent one of the largest cross-study compilations of PCMH evaluation findings to date. We will utilize a paper development method modeled after an approach developed by Ben Crabtree, PhD, MA, a key evaluator in the National Demonstration Project and recognized leader in qualitative research approaches. Following the conference, lead authors identified at the conference will guide their team through the writing process. Key conference findings will be will be disseminated via a multi-pronged strategy including journal articles, policy briefs, podcasts and web videos. We will utilize established relationships with invited experts and grantees to reach national-level organizations such as Qualis Health's Safety Net Medical Home Initiative;Commonwealth Fund grantees and the PCMH Evaluators'Collaborative;North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG);the MacColl Institute;American Academy of Family Physicians;American College of Physicians;Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Aligning Forces for Quality;Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation at the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC). Additionally, we will leverage the primary care extension service infrastructure being developed by the 17 states involved in the U18-HS020988-01 Impact grant.
The Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) has been touted as a means to """"""""reinvigorate primary care, lower health care costs, enhance quality and produce more 'patient-centered'care for adult and child populations.""""""""5 In order for the PCMH to fulfill this potential, we must understand how to implement the model to get the most out of it, given a variety of contextual factors. The findings generated through this conference will advance this understanding, thereby moving us toward a health care system that can provide timely, affordable and effective health care to us all.
