Statement attributable to:
Omar T. Atiq, MD, FACP
President, ACP
WASHINGTON June 9, 2023 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) applauds the announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of a new primary care delivery model that will be tested in eight states. The Making Care Primary Model is designed to improve care coordination and care management and incorporates some of the key elements that ACP proposed in the Medical Home Neighborhood model that we submitted for consideration to CMS’s Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee.
A well-functioning primary care system is vital to the performance of our overall health care system. Increasing access to primary care medicine is proven to improve health outcomes and lower costs. The new model from CMS has the potential to make progress in solving one of the persistent problems in managing a patient’s care, coordinating across specialties. ACP has called attention to role of primary care physicians in managing patients’ overall health, and how a lack of care coordination between primary care physicians and other specialists can lead to fragmented care and increase the risk of poor outcomes. In a paper published last year, Beyond the Referral: Principles of Effective, Ongoing Primary and Specialty Care Collaboration, ACP offered recommendations for improving this communication and coordination. The Making Care Primary model aligns with our recommendations and is structured to facilitate and promote care coordination between primary care physicians and other specialists.
We look forward to seeing additional details from CMS and hope that the support provided through this model will enable primary care practices to ensure that these innovations in care delivery are able to realize their potential. Innovations in care delivery, like the ones included in this model, are critical to ensuring the health of our primary care system and delivering high-quality, effective care to our patients.
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About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 160,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.