Patient-centered medical homes: observable types derived from national recognition assessment scores.

Overview

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a strategy to transform primary care delivery organizations. However, PCMHs take on many forms and can "look different." To better understand the activities of organizations undertaking this strategy, we sought to identify discernible PCMH types using cluster analyses. From a sample of level 3 National Committee for Quality Assurance PCMHs, We extracted 3 types of PCMHs: information-focused, efficiency-focused, and high-scoring. Our findings confirm that the PCMH is not a uniform intervention. Characterizing PCMHs with particular areas of focus has implications for understanding the transformation process, identifying areas for continued practice development, and advancing evaluation of this organizational model.