Press Release

Release Date: July 22, 2009
HRCHC Contact: Communications Department
Telephone: (207) 861-3466
Email: Communications@HealthReach.org

Belgrade Regional Health Center selected for Maine Patient Centered Medical Home Pilot Project

BELGRADE – Belgrade Regional Health Center (BRHC), located on 4 Clement Way in Belgrade, has been selected as one of 26 primary care practices in Maine to participate in the Maine Patient Centered Medical Home Pilot Project according to a recent announcement by the Dirigo Health Agency's Maine Quality Forum, Quality Counts, and the Maine Health Management Coalition. "We are honored to be part of this important pilot project for Maine citizens," stated Connie Coggins, President/CEO of HealthReach Community Health Centers. "The selection of our Belgrade practice is a direct reflection of the professionalism and skills that our medical team displays on a daily basis."

This pilot, with initial funding from the Maine Quality Forum and the Maine Health Access Foundation, received a boost recently when the Legislature enacted Governor John Baldacci's biennial budget. The budget includes $500,000, eligible for federal matching funds, in support of pilot practices caring for MaineCare patients under the new primary care model.

"I am pleased that the legislature recognized the value of this investment to make our entire system more efficient and serve Maine people better," said Baldacci. "The pilot will help advance the broad goals of the original Dirigo Health Reform to make affordable, quality health care available to all Mainers and to work to make Maine the healthiest state."

The Patient Centered Medical Home aims to achieve better patient outcomes at a lower cost by coordinating care, integrating behavioral and public health services with medical practice, emphasizing prevention, and compensating primary care practices for providing these services.

Pilot practices, which were selected in a competitive application process, demonstrated a commitment to disease prevention, efficient care of patients with chronic conditions and patient education. Patient Centered Medical Homes include enhanced access to the practice for its patients, comprehensive services within the practice, "first contact care" for new problems and continuity of care over time by a physician and a health care team.

"This is a great opportunity for our practice to re-evaluate our processes and systems with the goal of meeting patients' needs and offering them the highest quality care," said Belgrade's Dr. Amy Madden. "It emphasizes the importance of focusing on wellness, illness prevention, chronic disease management and care coordination as the keystone of a high-quality and cost-effective health care system."

Participating practices will receive support to transform their systems of care and will periodically join together to share experiences and knowledge, including better ways to partner with their patients to understand their needs and preferences, manage their health care, and facilitate care needed from specialists.

Lisa Letourneau, M.D., M.P.H., executive director of Quality Counts, provides staff support to the Pilot. "While our work will be primarily with the Pilot practices, we also plan to share the learnings and communicate with the rest of the primary care community in Maine, in hopes that we can spread these concepts throughout the state," said Dr. Letourneau.

The Maine Health Management Coalition is an employer-based coalition that purchases health care benefits for nearly 250,000 Maine workers and their families. "Our employers are looking for ways to improve the value of the healthcare they and their employees are purchasing, and believe that the medical home model is one part of the solution," noted Elizabeth Mitchell, CEO of the Coalition. "The Coalition is at the table to make sure that we keep this moving ahead. We can't afford to wait any longer".

An important next step in the pilot is to work with insurance carriers and MaineCare, all of whom have expressed support for the pilot. By re-directing payment to support improved primary care, the pilot will examine whether and how additional costs can be avoided over time. "We have a motivated, enthusiastic group of physicians," said Joshua Cutler, M.D., Director of the Maine Quality Forum. "Important negotiations between the practices and commercial health insurance plans now need to be done."

Practices participating in the pilot also include Blue Hill Family Medicine, Blue Hill; Central Maine Family Practice, Lewiston; the Community Health Center, Southwest Harbor; Court Street Family Practice, Auburn; Dexter Family Practice, Dexter; D.F.D. Russell Medical Center, Leeds; Eastern Maine Medical Center's Center for Family Medicine, Bangor; Four Seasons Family Practice, Fairfield; Helen Hunt Health Center, Old Town; Husson Internal Medicine, Bangor; Husson Pediatrics, Bangor; Lifespan Family Healthcare, Newcastle; Maine Medical Center Family Medicine Center, Portland; Maine Medical Partners Westbrook Internal Medicine, Westbrook; Maine Medical Partners Westbrook Pediatrics, Westbrook; Mid-Maine Internal Medicine, North Vassalboro; Newport Family Practice, Newport; Penobscot Community Health Center, Bangor; Penobscot Pediatrics, Bangor; Seaport Family Practice, Belfast; Southern Maine Medical Center PrimeCare Physicians, Biddeford; Swift River Health Care, Rumford; Wilson Stream Family Practice, Farmington; Winthrop Family Practice, Winthrop; and Winthrop Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Winthrop.

Belgrade Regional Health Center is one of the eleven medical practices of HealthReach Community Health Centers, a system of eleven federally qualified health centers and two dental centers in central and western Maine. To ensure access for everyone, HealthReach accepts Medicare, MaineCare, major insurances and offers an Affordable Care Program based on family size and income to uninsured and underinsured residents. A private, non-profit organization with a 30-year history, HealthReach is funded by patient fees, grants and individual donations.

Portions of this press release were taken from the Quality Counts! Website