| CIGNA And Dartmouth-Hitchcock Launch "Patient-Centered Medical Home" Program
CIGNA and Dartmouth-Hitchcock have launched a
"patient-centered medical home" pilot program to enhance the
coordination of care and improve care quality for patients covered by a
CIGNA plan.
Primary care providers affiliated with
Dartmouth-Hitchcock will be paid for the medical services they provide,
reimbursed an additional amount for enhanced services such as care
management they provideand be rewarded through a pay-for-performance
structure for improving quality and appropriate healthcare.
The program is focused on individuals who receive care
from Dartmouth-Hitchcock primary care physicians practicing in family
medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. Currently, approximately
19,000 CIGNA members access care from a Dartmouth-Hitchcock primary
care physician.
The patient-centered medical home model of care is
designed to provide patients with a comprehensive, coordinated approach
to primary care which in turn leads to improved quality and lower
medical costs. In the pilot, patients, especially those with chronic
illness or ongoing medical needs, will have access to enhanced care
coordination, communications, appointment availability and education to
help them navigate their healthcare system, while physicians will
receive additional reimbursement for providing these enhanced services
and supportive infrastructure.
"Our healthcare system is increasingly complex and
disjointed, and the traditional physician payment structure rewards
specialization and providing more care, rather than rewarding more
coordinated care," said Dr. Dick Salmon, national medical director for
CIGNA, himself a primary care physician. "The patient-centered medical
home model is a promising approach to changing both of these dynamics
while preserving primary care medicine, and we are pleased to be
working with an organization like Dartmouth-Hitchcock, which has
already implemented many patient-centered medical home features in its
practice, to further develop the model."
"As healthcare continues to evolve, we are seeing a
greater need to improve community health through the transformation of
patient care to meet the unique and changing needs of the patients we
serve," said Dr. Barbara Walters, senior medical director,
Dartmouth-Hitchcock. "Our partnership with CIGNA to pilot the
patient-centered medical home program exemplifies our ongoing mission
to achieve the healthiest population by providing each person with the
best care, at the right time, every time, as well as our organizations
working together to set the standard for this new model of patient
care."
Members will access care from one of the 391
Dartmouth-Hitchcock primary care providers participating in the pilot.
There is no change in choice of primary care provider or in any plan
requirements regarding referrals to see specialists.
Salmon said that emphasizing the value of the primary
care physician as the overall coordinator of the health of their
patients will help increase the professional satisfaction and financial
rewards for doctors who practice in primary care.
Addresses: CIGNA, One Liberty Pl., 1650 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19192; (215) 761-1000, www.cigna.com. Dartmouth-Hitchcock, One Medical Center Dr., Lebanon, NH 03755; (603) 656-5000, www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org.
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