Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released a brief examining patient-centered medical homes and their role in national health reform.  The brief explains how patient-centered medical homes operate and compares several current projects to determine how well they reduce hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and costs per patient. 

From the article:

Although there is no single standard definition of a medical home, there is an agreed upon set of principles behind the concept, and most medical homes share common elements. For example, each patient has close contact with a clinician (physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant) for continuing care, and that clinician takes the lead when referring the patient to specialists. Medical homes also make extensive use of electronic health records and seek active participation of the patient and his or her family.

Full Article: Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PDF | 162 KB)   

Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2010). Patient-Centered Medical Homes.