MINNEAPOLIS, February, 28, 2008 - MMA President-elect George Schoephoerster, M.D., testified before the Health Care and Human Services Finance Division Committee about the state of primary care in Minnesota Wednesday.

The committee wanted to get an overview of primary care in Minnesota as part of its deliberations about health care reform.

Schoephoerster emphasized the value of primary care medicine. He cited a study that found a 20 percent increase in the number of primary care physicians in U.S. counties was associated with a 5 percent decrease in mortality, according to research by Barbara Starfield, M.D., published in the March 15, 2005, Health Affairs.

He also spoke about the need to change the current reimbursement system so it allows primary care doctors to create health care teams that can serve as medical homes for patients.

“It is my belief that the real solution is to change how we are reimbursed,” he said.

His own health care organization, CentraCare Health System, in St. Cloud, has found that care coordinators and care management plans help improve patient outcomes and decrease costs by reducing patient hospital and emergency room visits.

He believes that the medical home concept can save money by creating more effective health care teams, with nurses, care coordinators, and physicians working together to meet the needs of patients.

The doctors considered successful in his practice can see 40 patients a day, he said. He believes the system needs to change so that a medical home care team would still have the capacity to manage 40 patients a day, but the physician would spend the bulk of his or her time with the 10 or so patients who need a higher level of care.