WHEREAS,  it is recognized that primary care providers in this country serve as a critical component of the health care system and a fundamental element in efforts to promote health care delivery and payment reform; and

WHEREAS,  at the same time, there is widespread agreement that payment for primary care services has not kept pace with payment for other specialties, and that current fee-for-service payment systems undervalue the benefits of primary care services; and

WHEREAS,  prominent physician organizations, including the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians and American Academy of Pediatrics and the Maine affiliates of these national organizations, together with the Maine Medical Association, Maine Osteopathic Association, Maine Primary Care Association, Maine Association of Nurse Practitioners and Maine Association of Physician Assistants, recognize that patient care can be improved through a patient-centered practice model called the patient-centered medical home, or PCMH, model; and

WHEREAS,  the medical home concept has been adopted by key stakeholders in Maine and is grounded in a set of patient-centered, physician-guided principles that promote an ongoing relationship between a patient and a health care provider trained to provide first contact, continuous and comprehensive care and who leads a team of individuals at the practice level who collectively take responsibility for the ongoing care of patients, including care for all stages of life, acute care, chronic care, preventive services and end-of-life care and coordination of care across settings, and promotes enhanced access to care through systems such as open scheduling, expanded hours and new options for communication between patients and their primary health care team; and

WHEREAS,  the Maine Quality Forum, Maine Quality Counts, Maine Health Management Coalition and MaineCare convened the multi-payer Maine PCMH Pilot, which was launched in 2009 and expanded in 2012 to include additional practices and to bring in Medicare as a payer through the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practice, MAPCP, demonstration, now involving 75 primary care practices and 10 Community Care Teams from across the State; and

WHEREAS,  MaineCare has developed its Health Homes initiative, which includes over 200 primary care practices, in alignment with PCMH principles; and

WHEREAS,  those 200 primary care practices have now committed to implementing the PCMH model to improve care for their patients; and

WHEREAS,  primary care providers involved in these efforts have committed hundreds of hours to implementing the PCMH model with the goals of improving patient experience of care, improving the quality of health care and health for their patients and controlling health care costs; now, therefore be it