 Greetings and best wishes for the approaching holiday season. Equally as anticipated, the launch of the Maryland Primary Care Program (MDPCP) comes in a short 45 days, and not a moment too soon.
Across the country, and within each state, health care is not given the priority it merits. Nationally, primary care spending ranges from 5.8 percent to 7.7 percent. In Maryland, funding most basic care for patients accounts for only 5 percent of our total health care spending. A few states like Rhode Island and Oregon have made bold policy statements to increase the level of primary care investment significantly, up to 12 percent; this is a great starting point.
The delivery of health care in the U.S. is pivoting; as we move away from volume- based care to value based care in the U.S., it is obvious that quality is the correct path forward. The focus on high-end technology and ultra-specialization will not yield the necessary improvements in quality, patient experience, or reductions in cost. We can learn from nations like the UK and Germany that have shown how greater investments in primary care reduce the overall health care expenditures and improve longevity and quality of care. The real value added comes from access to high quality advanced primary care and prevention. As we move from a system of “sick care” to a system of “health and wellness,” primary care will be the most important part of the delivery system.
I hope that you are as excited as we are about MDPCP. At a time when primary care has been suffering from declining numbers of already overburdened, under compensated, and poorly appreciated providers, the MDPCP represents an antidote.
Maryland has committed to this important transformation. The MDPCP is a first and critically important step in this journey. By providing generous funding and technical support for eligible practices, the state is demonstrating its commitment to a strong, growing, and highly valuable primary care workforce and advanced primary care.
We are now in the final phases of the vetting and qualification process for the MDPCP’s first enrollment period. We are encouraged by the enthusiastic application response. A significant majority of the applicant practices will be accepted to begin in Program Year 1. For those that have not been accepted in this inaugural enrollment, we encourage you to apply in subsequent open enrollment periods. We anticipate open enrollment for Program Year 2 may begin as early as May 2019. The MDPCP Program Management Office (PMO) will be available to assist practices with technical application issues beginning in January 2019.
Howard Haft, MD, MMM, FACPE
Executive Director, Program Management Office
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