In the summer of 2010, CHRT staff led the writing and analytics of the State of Michigan’s grant proposal for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Practice Demonstration project. In the fall of 2010, CMS selected Michigan as one of eight states to host the demonstration. CHRT partnered with the State of Michigan and the University of Michigan Health System to implement the grant, with a focus on improving primary care for those with chronic disease. Michigan’s project—known as the Michigan Primary Care Transformation Demonstration Project (MiPCT)—was a five-year, multi-payer, statewide demonstration project aimed at reforming primary care payment models and expanding the capabilities of the state’s patient-centered medical homes.

MiPCT at a glance:

• Michigan’s project was the nation’s largest patient-centered medical home initiative, reaching approximately 1 million people served by 1,900 providers in 400 practices.
• MiPCT included Medicare, Medicaid and commercial carriers.
• Of the eight states in the demonstration program, MiPCT was one of only two to show consistent savings over the three years of the demonstration period, with a net Medicare savings of $336 million.
• $110 million in additional Medicare payments were made to providers in Michigan over the demonstration period.

Today, MiPCT is still an ongoing initiative. It’s now referred to as the Michigan Multi-payer Initiative (MMI) and CHRT’s executive director provides strategic consultation to the program manager.