The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new initiative made possible by the Affordable Care Act to help primary care practices deliver higher quality, more coordinated and patient-centered care. Under the new initiative, Medicare will work with commercial and state health insurance plans to offer additional support to primary care doctors who better coordinate care for their patients. This collaboration, known as the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative, is modeled after innovative practices developed by large employers and leading private health insurers in the private sector.

The voluntary initiative will begin as a demonstration project available in five to seven health care markets across the country. Public and private health care payers interested in applying to participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative must submit a Letter of Intent by November 15, 2011. In the selected markets, Medicare and its partners will enroll interested primary care providers into the initiative. Primary care practices that choose to participate in this initiative will be given support to better coordinate primary care for their Medicare patients. This support will help doctors:

• Help patients with serious or chronic diseases follow personalized care plans;
• Give patients 24-hour access to care and health information;
• Deliver preventive care;
• Engage patients and their families in their own care;
• Work together with other doctors, including specialists, to provide better coordinated care.

CMS will pay primary care practices a monthly fee for these activities in addition to the usual Medicare fees that these practices would receive for delivering Medicare covered services.

For more information, please see the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative web site www.innovations.cms.gov