<nobr>May 10, 2007</nobr>

ERIC Announces Release of Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative Principles

For Immediate Release -- May 10, 2007

ERIC Announces Release of Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative Principles

Washington, D.C. -- In conjunction with members of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC), ERIC today announced the release of the group's joint principles in a statement submitted for the record of a House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health hearing on options to improve quality and efficiency among Medicare physicians.

The Collaborative, a coalition of major employer and physician groups, have joined together to develop and advance the concept that the Patient Centered Medical Home is the best way to provide and pay for healthcare. ERIC has been working to build the Collaborative since October 2006, and will continue to reach out to major employers, trade associations, physician, hospital and quality organizations, consumer groups, and other stakeholders.

The Patient Centered Medical Home would provide for improved access to care, better engagement of patients in managing their care, superior clinical information systems, and improved accountability. Patients would have easier access to appointments, e-mail and telephone consultations. Physicians would have streamlined access to lab and test results, specialist care would be coordinated, and patients would have accurate, standardized information about physicians to help them choose a practice that will meet their needs.

The Collaborative has agreed that it is essential to support a better model of compensating physicians by bringing together payers, providers, and patients to design a new reimbursement model that properly supports the medical home concept. ERIC Vice President for Health Policy Edwina Rogers said, "Compensation for physicians in a medical home should recognize the additional value physicians provide when they go the extra mile in treating their patients."

In addition to ERIC, current members of the Collaborative include: American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, American Osteopathic Association, National Association of Community Health Centers, Exelon Corporation, General Motors, HR Policy Association, IBM, National Business Group on Health, Walgreens Strategic Health Initiatives, and Wyeth.

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ERIC is a non-profit association committed to representing the advancement of the employee retirement, health, and compensation plans of America's largest employers. ERIC's members provide benchmark retirement, health care coverage, compensation and other economic security benefits directly to tens of millions of active and retired workers and their families. ERIC has a strong interest in proposals affecting its members' ability to deliver those benefits, their cost and their effectiveness, as well as the role of those benefits in the American economy.

For more information:
Ted Godbout
Manager, Communications
The ERISA Industry Committee
1400 L Street, N.W., Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 789-1400; Fax (202) 789-1120
e-mail: tgodbout@eric.org
www.eric.org

Text Files:

PCPCC Principles

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