The Minnesota Department of Health's Health Care Homes program has contracted with the University of Minnesota to perform an evaluation of the statewide initiative to improve primary care in Minnesota. The university will produce the first report in December 2013 and will evaluate the following aspects of the health care home as directed by the Minnesota Legislature:
- The number of state health care program enrollees in health care homes and the number and characteristics of enrollees with complex or chronic conditions, identified by income, race, ethnicity and language.
- The number and geographic distribution of health care home providers.
- The performance and quality of care of health care homes.
- Measures of preventive care.
- Health care home payment arrangements and costs related to implementation and payment of care coordination fees.
- The estimated impact of health care homes on health disparities.
- The estimated savings from implementation of the health care home model for the fee-for-service, managed care and county-based purchasing sectors.
- A second report, due in December of 2015 will evaluate other transformational aspects of the health care home program in Minnesota. Health care homes are crucial to Minnesota’s efforts to achieve the triple aim of improving the health of Minnesotans, improving the patient experience, and reducing the cost of health care.
Authorized by Minnesota’s 2008 health reform law, the health care homes initiative is a joint effort of the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Human Services that offers a significant opportunity to redesign primary care in Minnesota. Health care homes, known nationally as medical homes, offer an innovative, team approach to primary care in which providers, families and patients work in partnership to improve the health and quality of life for individuals, especially those with chronic and complex conditions. Health care homes put patients and families at the center of their care, develop proactive approaches through care plans and offer more continuity of care through increased care coordination between providers, specialists, and community partners.
For more information or to find a Health Care Home near you visit http://www.health.state.mn.us/healthreform/homes/index.html
