N.D. insurer backs medical home initiative

The concept of patient-centered medical homes is gaining traction with health insurers. The medical home model, pushed most vocally by the American Academy of Family Physicians, is a health-care reform strategy that designates the primary care doctor as the coordinator and supervisor of a team-based medical care approach for each patient.

In October, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota backed a statewide medical home initiative in which participating doctors will receive free clinical analytics and reporting software to help them serve as the coordinator.

BCBS hopes that all 4,200 providers in North Dakota will enroll in the program, which is scheduled to launch in January. It will initially focus on physicians reporting data on patients with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, childhood asthma, and chronic lung disease.

In July, the board of directors for industry group America's Health Insurance Plans formally endorsed the medical home concept at its annual meeting.