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CDPHP, an Albany, N.Y.-based physician owned health plan and independent practice association, will invest $1 million to fund medical home initiatives in 21 area primary care and pediatric practices.

The organization for two years has been working with three group practices to adopt the medical home model of care under a partnership with the TransforMED Consulting subsidiary of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Now, a second phase of the initiative will start with 21 new practices comprising more than 160 physicians serving 52,000 health plan members.

Under the medical home model, physician practices are designated patients' "medical home" to coordinate the continuum of care. The practices are redesigned to be more functional and workflow-friendly, and new processes are developed to focus on quality, safety and alternative reimbursement methods. The care model also calls for extensive use of health information technologies, including electronic health records, e-prescribing, clinical decision support, secure messaging and Web portal software.

More information on CDPHP and its medical home project is available at cdphp.com.

--Joseph Goedert