(Helena, MT – Insurance News 360) – Those interested in how the first year of the Patient-Centered Medical Home Program (PCMH) went now have a place to find answers to their question. Recently, Montana Insurance Commissioner Monica J. Lindeen released a report related to the program’s first full year of operation.

The recently-released report from Montana’s Patient-Centered Medical Home Program (PCMH) will serve as a baseline for opportunities to improve healthcare.

The program was created in 2013 and is a team-based approach to primary care that emphasizes preventative care, coordinating care and outcomes-based data to determine where gaps in care persist.

Baseline data is encouraging in the one-year-old program, according to a report from the Montana State Auditor’s office.

“The baseline data is encouraging and supports the proposition that the PCMH program advances comprehensive primary care and will keep Montanans healthier. Evidence gathered from PCMH programs across the country demonstrates that in the long term, this program can reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and hospitalizations, especially for patients with chronic disease,” said Commissioner Lindeen. “PCMHs in Montana promote high-quality, cost-effective care by providing primary care providers with better opportunities and resources to enhance care coordination.”

The report includes data from PCMHs application, showing how they are improving patient care, baseline data compared to national estimates and federal Healthy People 2020 targets and rates of emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

“Previously, this kind of information about key health indicators in Montana was not gathered or shared with clinics so they could see where their efforts at disease control and prevention were working – or not working,” Lindeen said.

Source: Office of the Montana State Auditor, Commissioner of Securities and Insurance.