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The Regional Medical Clinic (RMC) was chosen as one of 500 primary care practices in the nation - one of only two primary care practices from eastern Oregon - to participate in a new Medicare initiative designed to reduce costs, improve quality and increase patient satisfaction.

Grande Ronde Hospital—selected as one of 70 leaders in Oregon—will participate in a new Medicare initiative designed to reduce costs, improve quality and increase patient satisfaction. The GRH Regional Medical Clinic (RMC) was chosen as one of 500 primary care practices in the nation through a competitive application process. The RMC is one of only two primary care practices chosen from eastern Oregon.

This select participatory group represents approximately 2,000 primary care doctors and nurse practitioners in seven regions across the country. The Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI) is being piloted out of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The goal of the CPCI is to:

• Reduced costs
• Improved quality
• Increased patient satisfaction

“This is an outstanding opportunity and we are excited about the potential,” said Paul Shorb, Senior Director of Physician Services at GRH.

Shorb said the initiative will foster collaboration between public and private health care payers to strengthen primary care, as Medicare works with both commercial and state health insurance plans to better coordinate primary care for their patients. 

“This program will also allow the RMC to more quickly adapt to the meet the challenges of healthcare reform,” he added.

Under the Initiative, CMS will pay primary care practices a care management fee to support enhanced, coordinated services on behalf of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. Simultaneously, participating commercial, state, and other federal insurance plans are also offering enhanced payment to primary care practices that are designed to support them in providing high-quality primary care on behalf of their members.

This four year, public-private partnership is designed to test a model of improved access to quality health care at lower costs. Now that the 500 practices have been selected, they will start delivering enhanced health care services this fall.

Created by the Affordable Care Act, the CMS Innovation Center was in charge of the selections process to find industry leaders to test innovative payment and service delivery models with the potential to reduce program expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care.

To learn more about the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative and view the participating primary practices, payers, and market, visit: http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Comprehensive-Primary-Care-Initiative.