The role of patient-centered medical homes in today's healthcare climate: 3 things to know

Patient-centered medical home can lower costs and improve healthcare quality, according to new evidence detailed in The Patient-Centered Medical Home's Impact on Cost and Quality: Annual Review of Evidence 2014-2015 Report released by the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative.

Here are three things to know:

1. Twenty studies found that PCMH initiatives continue to demonstrate improvements across a number of metrics, including cost of care, unnecessary or avoidable services, access to care and patient satisfaction.

2. The PCMH also plays an important role in strengthening the larger health care system, specifically Accountable Care Organizations and the emerging medical neighborhood model.

3. New payment models and payments reforms, such as the repeal of Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula, already incorporate PCMH. In fact, the proposal to repeal the SGR names PCMH as a supportive framework for value-based payment models.