Legislative Alert: Patient-Centered Medical Home Standards

The Rules and Regulations committee will be reviewing Arkansas Insurance Department Rule 108 (Patient-Centered Medical Home Standards) on Wednesday, December 3 at 9 am.  Please take a moment to contact your state legislators before December 3 and ask for their support of this rule, which makes it clear that a physician, and only a physician, should lead a Patient-Centered Medical Home.

We urge ALL physicians to contact their legislators and express support for this rule.  Legislators on the Rules and Regulations committee are listed below.  You can find your state Senator and Representative along with their contact information through Voter Voice and through the Arkansas State Legislator Look-Up, if they are not on the committee and listed below.

• Chair-Representative Kelly Linck (Flippin)
  Vice Chair-Senator Bruce Maloch (Magnolia)
  Vice Chair-Representative James Word (Pine Bluff)
  Senator Ronald Caldwell (Wynne)
  Senator Jonathan Dismang (Beebe)
  Senator Jim Hendren (Gravette)
  Senator Uvalde Lindsey (Fayetteville)
  Senator Bobby Pierce (Sheridan)
  Senator Larry Teague (Nashville)
  Representative Ann Clemmer (Benton)
  Representative Kim Hammer (Benton)
  Representative Lane Jean (Magnolia)
  Representative Joe Jett (Success)
  Representative Andrea Lea (Russellville)
  Representative Greg Leding (Fayetteville)
  Representative Jeff Wardlaw (Warren)
  Representative Butch Wilkins (Bono)

In your own words, let your legislators know that:

• You support this rule requiring carrier participation in, and support of, the Arkansas Payment Improvement Initiative’s (APII) Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), and the APII already requires a physician-led PCMH.  This successful statewide standard with physicians as the lead is already working well, provides the highest quality of care possible, and should be followed to provide consistency, improve coordination and increase efficiency.
• This rule neither limits access to care to: (a) a specific PCMH, nor (b) any specific type of provider, such as an APRN, PA, pharmacist or chiropractor, etc., and that you specifically support the language stating that a primary care physician should lead a PCMH.
• The PCMH model has the potential to dramatically increase the use of a wide array of mid-level providers who have limited scopes of practice, such as APRNs, PAs and care coordinators as they serve on the PCMH “team” under the guidance of, not necessarily the supervision of, the primary care physician who is ultimately responsible for all care provided for the patient.

Physicians have the most extensive, broadest education at the highest level of training and are solely and uniquely qualified to manage the totality of care required for each patient.