Peterson Center on Healthcare Unveils New Initiative to Transform Primary Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 22, 2016
CONTACT: Jorge Alday, 646-768-4013
jalday@petersonhealthcare.org

Installs a High-Performance Model for Primary Care Delivery at Three Clinics in New York, Missouri, Minnesota

New York, NY—The Peterson Center on Healthcare announced a new initiative to transform how primary care practices deliver care by installing a proven, high-performance, lower-cost model. The practice sites—one each in New York, Missouri and Minnesota—have begun implementing an operational and management change process with support from their health system leadership, the Peterson Center and a group of national experts in primary care.

The three sites include:

  • Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice, 147th Street in Harlem – New York, NY
  • Internal Medicine of St. Luke’s – Chesterfield, MO
  • Essentia Health-Moorhead Clinic – Moorhead, MN

From Research to Action

The model being implemented is derived from landmark research funded by the Center and conducted by Stanford University’s Clinical Excellence Research Center. The multi-year research project demonstrated how high-performing practices successfully manage the clinical and administrative components of care delivery, making them “America’s Most Valuable Care” providers.

In order to replicate this model in new primary care facilities, the Center convened experts in practice improvement, systems engineering, change management and patient engagement. The model has been developed into 22 actionable modules that practice teams can implement according to their own goals and patient needs.

“For most Americans, primary care is their entry point into the healthcare system and it is therefore a critical area to improve the quality of care and reduce costs,” said Jeffrey Selberg, executive director of the Peterson Center on Healthcare. “If we can replicate the model efficiently and spread its adoption, the ability to achieve better outcomes and lower costs could be enormous.”

Initial Successes

The practices have been implementing key elements of the primary care model for the past several weeks. Early results indicate progress toward the key goals of improved patient satisfaction, improved quality scores and increased work satisfaction for the care team.

“The team surfaced its own goals and learned how to apply improvement methodologies to improve how they work,” said Niyum Gandhi, chief population health officer, Mount Sinai Health System. “We are already seeing benefits, including higher quality outcomes, more time spent between clinicians and patients, and more streamlined administration.”

“Practice transformation isn’t easy, but our collaborative relationship with the Peterson Center on Healthcare has helped us dig into the process one step at a time to improve patient care and patient experience,” said Dr. Sara Lander, internist and co-clinical lead for the initiative at Internal Medicine of St. Luke’s. “Based on our practice’s goals and patient needs, we have utilized the tools provided and have already seen improvements in the clinical and administrative components of our care delivery.”

“One of the goals of this project is to design a method that can be both specific and adaptable to the myriad of practice environments in U.S. healthcare,” commented Peter Jacobson, senior vice president of primary and integrated facilities for Essentia Health-West. “Given that many others also aspire to provide better care to patients, bring joy back into their work and thrive in an evolving environment, we hope other practices will benefit from some of the solutions we generate in our own transformation.”

Prototyping for Scale

Building on the experiences in these three practices, the Peterson Center on Healthcare is actively developing a series of processes and tools to be able to facilitate transformation at a broader set of primary care facilities.

The Center’s program hinges on creating engagement among providers and administrative teams in the transformation work. Teams align on a common vision for their practices and are guided through an evidence-based process. The Center is providing direct technical assistance through its own team and has assembled a faculty of experts to assist in the implementation.

Further, the Center is partnering with other organizations that bring expertise in key areas necessary to replicate, spread and scale the model to ensure better quality of care for patients, including the Institute for Clinical Systems and Improvement, Families USA, and the National Partnership for Women & Families.

For more information about the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Limited Market Test, visit petersonhealthcare.org.

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About the Peterson Center on Healthcare
The Peterson Center on Healthcare is a non-profit organization dedicated to making higher quality, more affordable healthcare a reality for all Americans. The organization is working to transform U.S. healthcare into a high-performance system by finding innovative solutions that improve quality and lower costs, and accelerating their adoption on a national scale. Established by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Center collaborates with stakeholders across the healthcare system and engages in grant-making, partnerships, and research.