Which statement best describes how patient-centered medical homes relate to managed care goals?

• A. PCMH emphasizes coordinated primary care, access, and care coordination, aligning with managed care goals to improve outcomes and control costs.
• B. PCMH eliminates primary care physicians from the care team.
• C. PCMH focuses on specialty care and hospital-based management.
• D. PCMH operates independently of cost considerations.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that patient-centered medical homes are built around coordinated, accessible primary care that leads the patient’s care team and connects services across settings. This structure supports managed care goals by improving health outcomes through proactive, continuous care while also containing costs through effective coordination, better use of preventive services, and reduced fragmentation.

In a PCMH, a primary care physician leads a team that coordinates care with specialists, hospitals, and other providers, facilitates timely access for patients, and uses information tools to track performance and guide treatment. This alignment with managed care aims—to improve results and control spending—comes from avoiding duplicative tests, ensuring appropriate referrals, and keeping care centered on the patient’s overall needs.

The option describing PCMH as eliminating primary care physicians, focusing only on specialty or hospital-based management, or operating without cost considerations doesn’t fit how PCMH works. It relies on primary care leadership, a broad, team-based approach to coordination, and cost-conscious quality improvement, all of which are essential to aligning with managed care goals.