An editorial in a special supplement to the Journal of General Internal Medicine points to the need for a research agenda to accompany the implementation of patient-centered medical homes. While previous research has focused on the importance of enhanced primary care, there has been little work to examine the feasibility of implementing the patient-centered medical home in the current U.S. health care system. The authors, led by Bruce Landon, of Harvard Medical School, discuss the challenges that policymakers and implementers will need to overcome, including the diversity of approaches, defining the patient-centered medical home, practice transformation, payment options for reimbursing medical home services, and the likely outcomes of patients, practices, and communities. Future research, they say, should focus on medical education and training for the next generation of primary care physicians.
This research was supported by The Commonwealth Fund, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation.