The Council of State Governments Endorses the Patient-Centered Medical Home

The Executive Committee of the Council of State Governments (CSG) unanimously endorsed a resolution on the Patient-Centered Medical Home (P-CMH) at their Annual State Trends & Leadership Forum in Oklahoma City, November 11-14, 2007.

Oklahoma State Senator Connie Johnson presented the resolution on behalf of the AAFP to the Intergovernmental Agency committee who approved and forwarded the resolution to the executive committee.

The resolves state:

  1. ... that the CSG support the Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home as a guideline for states to improve the health of its citizens;
  2. .... that the CSG encourage states to implement and fund pilot programs to demonstrate the quality, safety, value and effectiveness of the Patient-Centered Medical Home.

And it directs the CSG staff to:

  1. Prepare correspondence to Governors and legislative leaders in the states, District of Columbia and territories notifying them of the approved resolution and encouraging them to implement and fund pilot programs to demonstrate the quality, safety, value and effectiveness of the Patient-Centered Medical Home;
  2. Post approved resolution on CSG's website and make available through its regular communications venues CSG support of the Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home as a guideline for states, the District of Columbia and territories to improve the health of its citizens.

Correspondence is expected to be sent out within the next few weeks to Governors and legislative leaders in the states, DC and territories in time for state legislative sessions.

As you are aware, the American College of Physicians (ACP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) released joint principles on the patient-centered medical home (P-CMH) in March of this year and are partners in this initiative.

Attached is an ACP sample issue brief on the P-CMH and state health statistics that chapters can modify and use to engage policy maker. In working with state government officials to promote the P-CMH, you should make reference to the above resolution that has been adopted by the Council of State Governments.

In addition, Sen. Johnson is expected to take the resolution with her to the National Black Caucus of State Legislators meeting (December 12-16 in Little Rock, AR) and will be using this to open a dialog on the P-CMH model to address health disparities.

The resolution and supporting documentation can be viewed at http://www.csg.org/meetings/documents/Patient CenteredMedicalHomeResolution_000.pdf

If you have any questions on these or other topics, please contact Shuan Tomlinson at 800-338-2746 ext. 4547 or by email at stomlinson@acponline.org.

December 7, 2007

[PDF] Acrobat PDF format. Download Acrobat Reader software for free from Adobe. Problems with PDFs?