Finding their way home. Despite mixed evidence, providers and payers are adopting patient-centered medical homes to improve health and cut costs

Abstract

Medical homes are proliferating, though not everyone is convinced they'll produce savings. Don't tell that to the Michigan Blues, which since 2008 has helped more than 1,200 primary-care practices qualify as medical homes, with another 1,000 in the process. The insurer calculates that the project saved it $155 million in 2012 alone. "Those are dollar savings observed in claims data--these are not back-of-the-envelope calculations," says Dr. David Share, of the Michigan Blues.