Effective June 1, The American Academy of Family Physicians' $8 million practice redesign initiative, TransforMED, will become a limited liability corporation, wholly owned by the AAFP.
TransforMED is expected to offer support and consultation services to primary care physicians and health systems that want to transform their medical practices into patient-centered medical homes.
"Our new status as an LLC will enable us to respond more quickly to the ever-changing primary care environment by allowing us to identify and enter into relationships with vendors who support primary care transformation," said Terry McGeeney, MD, president and CEO of TransforMED.
TransforMED, first introduced in April 2006, launched a two-year national demonstration project to test the feasibility of the patient-centered medical home model of care. Independent researchers are studying several aspects of the demonstration project, from implementation in primary care practices to whether it can improve patient care, patient satisfaction, physician satisfaction and practice performance.
An independent team of researchers will publish a report on key findings from the project in 2009. TransforMED will use preliminary findings from the national demonstration project to expand efforts to transform primary care practices into patient-centered medical homes.
TransforMED is developing multi-level support services ranging from practice management consultation to change management and total practice transformation. Preliminary findings indicate one of the greatest challenges faced by primary care physicians and their staff is the implementation of technology solutions such as electronic health records, population-based disease registry systems and virtual office visit capabilities.
Company officials said TransforMED clients may benefit from group purchasing power and preferred banking services that will offer discounts and special financing to make the technology more affordable.
According to the AAFP, TransforMED's Web site will become a patient-centered medical home resource - a place where physicians and office personnel can seek support from Practice Improvement Network Support specialists for a nominal annual fee. Physicians can also take a free assessment to see where their practice stands in relation to NCQA criteria to be recognized as a patient-centered medical home.
"This is an exciting time for the future of primary care," McGeeney said. "We hope physicians and their staff members will use the tools and resources on TransforMED.com, many of which are free, to assess their own needs for change and to learn new and better ways of addressing the challenges they will face during the transformation process."
TransforMED will be governed by a board of managers designated by the AAFP, including two members of the AAFP's board of directors.
Company officials say the AAFP will provide funding to enable TransforMED to meet operating expenses for its first two fiscal years. The board of managers will be tasked with approving and overseeing the operating budget, goals and performance measures in order to assure consistency with the AAFP's own budgeted capital contributions to the new business entity.