Medical homes offer model for better, less expensive health care

News outlets explore how emerging models for delivering care, such as patient-centered medical homes and dental therapists, can lead to lower costs and better access to care.

JAMA: Patient-Centered Medical Homes Offer a Model for Better, Cheaper Health Care
As policy makers and health care delivery experts seek to redesign medical care in the United States to rein in costs while improving quality, a growing chorus is singing the praises of the patient-centered medical home model. ... Although medical homes are a recent phenomenon, initial results are encouraging (Mitka, 2/22).

WBUR: Dental Therapists Are Debated For Filling Coverage Gaps
[Christy Jo] Fogarty is on the forefront of what she calls a paradigm shift in dental care, one that rivals the expansion of nurse practitioners. She's the first advanced dental therapist to be licensed in Minnesota since the state approved such providers in 2009. Alaska is the only other state that allows dental therapists. Whether other states will follow is becoming one of the most heated topics in health care reform (Bebinger, 2/22).