Capitation as an incentive for transitioning to patient-centered medical homes in the United States Army: A brief report

Abstract

The Army transitioned to a Patient-Centered Medical Home concept for primary care beginning in 2011. In spite of organizational commitment to the paradigm, the transition has not been without pitfalls. This performance improvement project operated under the hypothesis that focusing on the market-based incentives of a capitated system would result in a quantum leap toward the Patient-Centered Medical Home ideal. Utilizing a simple teaching device to repetitively highlight clinic and provider behaviors incentivized in a value-based payment system, a single clinic achieved significant improvements in enrollment, patient satisfaction, and measures associated with prevention while assuming an identity as a "virtual clinic". We recommend that the military consider a similar philosophy in educating clinics across the enterprise.