Medical Homes Could Improve Care for All
<p>The Fund's recent survey report, <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2007/jun/closing-the-divide--how-medical-homes-promote-equity-in-health-care--results-from-the-commonwealth-f
">Closing the Divide: How Medical Homes Promote Equity in Health Care</a>, found that adults who have medical homes not only have enhanced access to care but also receive better-quality care. What's more, the benefits of medical homes are spread across all patient groups with access to them. The survey found that, among minorities with insurance coverage and a medical home, racial and ethnic differences in terms of access to and quality of care are reduced or even eliminated.<br /><br />In a new column, <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=29218&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecommonwealthfund%2Eorg%2Faboutus%2Faboutus%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D510655%26%23doc510655">Medical Homes Could Improve Care for All</a>, Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis, Ph.D., and executive vice president Stephen Schoenbaum, M.D., lay out the steps needed to encourage primary care providers to become medical homes: reforming primary care payment, measuring and rewarding medical homes, testing care delivery models, and maximizing the potential of health information technology. The column cites examples of important initiatives around the country that are pointing the way to reform.</p>