From MACRA and MIPS to SIM and SHIP, federal and state programs have made the primary care landscape more complex than ever before.

That’s where our expert consultants can help. Common Ground Health can provide no-cost assistance to practices looking to participate in the state’s Advanced Primary Care model or prepare for new quality reporting requirements.

“We help practices create a culture of continuous improvement, a shift that is foundational to meeting the new demands of outcome-based payment,” said William Brien, director of Practice Transformation for Common Ground Health.

Practices are enrolling now in Advanced Primary Care, which is New York State’s vision for primary care. Under this model, primary care is the central hub of care, through which all other parts of the health care system are integrated, including behavioral health and community-based providers. On the payment side, the Advanced Primary Care model reimburses costs associated with practice transformation, care coordination and provider performance.

Using a $99.9 million grant from the federal government’s State Innovation Models (SIM) program, New York’s State Health Innovation Plan (SHIP) aims to spread Advanced Primary Care across the state with a goal of having 80 percent of residents able to receive care in an integrated care delivery model by the project’s end in 2019.

“The focus of New York’s State Innovation Model is to enhance and bring the medical home model to scale, supported by a value‐based payment system, skilled workforce and common set of quality metrics,” Brien said.

Payment for the Advanced Primary Care model is based on a range of factors, including patient health outcomes, quality of care, and cost. The model builds on lessons learned from previous innovation models, which showed that practices could find success in health outcomes through initiatives including patient-centered care, population health management and care coordination.

New York state provides free technical assistance to practices that want to adopt the Advanced Primary Care model. As a regional contractor for technical assistance, Common Ground Health can help practices adapt organizational tools and processes to support a team-based model of care delivery.

Using a variety of evidence-based toolkits and recognized best practices, our consultants help practices improve. Help available includes content expertise, learning sessions and one-on-one coaching in how to implement Advanced Primary Care concepts. Common Ground Health can also assess practices at no cost to the practices to determine if they have developed the skills and processes necessary to certify as an Advanced Primary Care provider.

To learn more about the Advanced Primary Care model and the free assistance available to practices, contact William Brien at 585-224-3149, William.Brien@commongroundhealth.org.