Programs

Here is a brief history and the positive outcomes from our patient-centered medical home programs.

Background

  • April 2009: Started South Carolina's first patient-centered medical home with Palmetto Primary Care Physicians (PPCP) in Charleston, which focused on diabetic patients.
  • July 2010: Launched our second pilot with the University of South Carolina Department of Family Medicine in Columbia. We targeted diabetic patients, but expanded to include patients with congestive heart failure. We also included patients with congestive heart failure in PPCP.
  • October 2010: Implemented our third pilot with Mackey Family Practice in Lancaster. This practice targeted patients with diabetes or congestive heart failure. We also introduced a behavioral health component as part of this pilot.
  • September 2011: Added hypertension patients to the PPCP pilot.
  • December 2011: Implemented eight new Palmetto Health practices, including patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure or hypertension. Held our first patient-centered medical home conference with more than 50 participants. Presentations included best practices from three pilot programs.
  • January 2012: Added hypertension to the Mackey Family Practice pilot.
  • February 2012: Implemented seven practices affiliated with St. Francis/Bon Secours in Greenville, including patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure or hypertension.

Results

We measured success by looking at clinical outcomes for patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure and hypertension. We looked at patients’ participation levels and providers’ cost savings. We compared the pilot groups to control groups to see if there were improvements over time. We also conducted a patient satisfaction survey.

Consistently, each patient-centered medical home program resulted in:

  • An improvement of disease specific clinical measures.
  • Reduced emergency room visits per 1,000.
  • Fewer hospital admissions per 1,000.
  • Decreased days hospitalized per 1,000.