HealthPartners receives grant to study primary care clinics' transformation to health care homes

The HealthPartners Research Foundation has received an US Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant to study the transformation of traditional primary care clinics in Minnesota to "health care homes," also known as "medical homes."

“Evaluating Statewide Transformation of Primary Care to Medical Homes.”

Leif Solberg, MD, senior investigator and director for care improvement research at the HealthPartners Research Foundation, received the $596,000 grant to conduct a two-year study, "Evaluating Statewide Transformation of Primary Care to Medical Homes."

In a health care home, care is coordinated through:

• Improved access and communication systems
• Registries to track the needs of patients with complex conditions
• Care coordination and care plans
• Performance reporting/quality improvement to ensure that patients get the appropriate care when they need it.

The health care home model is designed to improve health outcomes while lowering costs.

Solberg will work with the Minnesota Departments of Health and Human Services, which are responsible for a legislative initiative to transform traditional primary care clinics to health care homes. With Minnesota Community Measurement and other partners, they will test whether clinics that have transformed their practice by implementing health care homes also see better quality of care of patients with diabetes or heart disease. They will then interview and survey successful clinics to identify key changes most important for transformation.

The study will also compare more and less transformed clinics in health care costs and utilization and patient and clinician/staff satisfaction. "We will work with our partner organizations to help all state primary care clinics transform and with national partners to disseminate the lessons widely," said Solberg, who is also associate medical director for HealthPartners Medical Group.