Colorado Beacon practices tapped for Comprehensive Primary Care initiative

Three-year pilot program will foster payer collaboration and advance primary care

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., Aug. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eight Colorado Beacon Consortium practices at nine sites will participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center announced today.

The Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative is an Innovation Center demonstration project designed to foster collaboration among private health plans, Medicare and Medicaid to support and strengthen primary care. It builds on the patient-centered medical home concept and aligns payment reform with practice transformation.

Practices will receive enhanced funding from several participating payers, which will allow them to integrate and strengthen their capacity to implement practice-wide quality improvement. CMS' Medicare payment model includes fee-for-service, a monthly care management fee and shared savings; private payers have developed their own payment arrangements.

Colorado was one of only seven markets selected from around the country to participate.

"I want to commend the Western Colorado practices selected to participate," said Patrick Gordon, CBC program director. "Each has the vision and the capability to succeed and, in doing so, will provide a roadmap for their peers in other practices and payers alike."

The selection of these sites affects not only these practices, but the ongoing efforts of the Colorado Beacon Consortium (CBC), said Dr. Glenn Kotz of MidValley Family Practice (MVFP), one of the CPC sites. "The work MVFP has done with CBC to advance patient engagement in self-care, care coordination, meaningful use of health IT, person-centered medical care and payment reform all align with CPC's aims. MVFP is very excited to be part of this initiative and to use this opportunity to help drive culture change and improved health care delivery in our entire community."

Like the Beacons, CPC is a multi-stakeholder, public/private approach designed to cultivate sustainable change. "The advances we made through the Beacon program helped us build the infrastructure to support the CPC initiative," Gordon said.

It may be a pilot program, but Gordon sees it as one element of ongoing transformation. "This is not a short-term project, nor is it tinkering at the edges. We don't have time for window dressing. CPC has the potential to make broad-based, comprehensive transformation and payment reform a reality in primary care, which will have a lasting impact on the health of Western Colorado. These practices, along with other excellent providers who are doing the hard work of transformation in our community, are well on their way to achieving great success."

That's certainly Dr. Gregory Reicks' expectation. His practice, Foresight Family Physicians in Grand Junction, was among those selected.As the Beacon program draws to a close, CBC is moving toward long-term sustainability. "Beacon has given us the opportunity to accelerate practice transformation and enhance the way we take care of patients. Now, private payer support and alignment by Medicare and Medicaid within CPC will allow us build on this momentum and demonstrate a model that can be replicated elsewhere."

Beacon practices were not the only Western Colorado sites selected. Rocky Mountain Health Plans also participates in the Colorado Medicaid Accountable Care Collaborative as one of seven Regional Care Collaborative Organizations (RCCOs). In this capacity, Rocky supports comprehensive primary care systems with localized, trans-disciplinary care coordination teams, thereby allowing participating RCCO practices maximize their ability to serve additional patients with complex needs. Several participating RCCO providers in Rocky's region were also selected for the Initiative.

Colorado Beacon* and RCCO practices selected:
Aspen Internal Medicine Consultants*                         Aspen
MidValley Family Practice*                                        Basalt
Roaring Fork Family Physicians*                                Carbondale
Peach Valley Family Medical Center*                         Clifton
Surface Creek Family Practice*                                  Delta
Glenwood Medical Associates, PC*                            Glenwood Springs
Internal Medicine Associates of Grand Junction*          Grand Junction
Primary Care Partners, PC (two sites)*                       Grand Junction
Foresight Family Physicians*                                     Grand Junction

Berthoud Family Physicians                                       Berthoud
Mercy Family Medicine                                              Durango
Associates in Family Medicine                                   Fort Collins
Miramont Family Medicine                                         Fort Collins
Banner Medical Clinic, Harmony Road                        Fort Collins
Aspen Medical Center                                               Loveland
Banner Medical Clinic, North Loveland                        Loveland
Columbine Family Practice                                        Loveland
High Country Health                                                  Silverthorne
Yampa Valley Medical Associates                             Steamboat Springs

About the Colorado Beacon Consortium
The Colorado Beacon Consortium is made up executive-level representation from four mission-driven, not-for-profit, Western Colorado-based organizations, all of which have nationally acknowledged track records of coordination to achieve superior outcomes. They are Mesa County Independent Physicians' Practice Association, Quality Health Network, Rocky Mountain Health Plans and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. The Colorado Beacon Consortium's mission is to optimize the efficiency, quality and performance of our health care system, and integrate the delivery of care and use of clinical information to improve community health. The geographic focus of the Consortium's activities includes the Colorado counties of Mesa, Delta, Montrose, Garfield, Gunnison, Pitkin and Rio Blanco. To learn more, visit www.coloradobeaconconsortium.org.

SOURCE Colorado Beacon Consortium