National Health Statistics Reports

Number 101  February 17, 2017

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Health Statistics

Characteristics of Primary Care Physicians in

Patient-centered Medical Home Practices:

United States, 2013

by Esther Hing, M.P.H., Ellen Kurtzman, Ph.D., and Denys T. Lau, Ph.D., National Center for Health Statistics; 

Caroline Taplin, M.S.P.H., Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; and 

Andrew B. Bindman, M.D., University of California, San Francisco

Abstract

Objective—This report describes the characteristics of primary care physicians in 

patient-centered medical home (PCMH) practices and compares these characteristics 

with those of primary care physicians in non-PCMH practices. 

Methods—The data presented in this report were collected during the induction 

interview for the 2013 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a national 

probability sample survey of nonfederal physicians who see patients in office settings 

in the United States. Analyses exclude anesthesiologists, radiologists, pathologists, and 

physicians in community health centers. In this report, PCMH status is self-defined as 

having been certified by one of the following organizations: Accreditation Association 

for Ambulatory Health Care, The Joint Commission, National Committee for Quality 

Assurance, URAC, or other certifying bodies. Estimates exclude physicians missing 

information on PCMH status. Sample data are weighted to produce national estimates 

of physicians and characteristics of their practices.

Results—In 2013, 18.0% of office-based primary care physicians worked in 

practices certified as PCMHs. A higher percentage of primary care physicians in 

PCMH practices (68.8%) had at least one physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or 

certified nurse midwife on staff compared with non-PCMH practices (47.7%). A 

higher percentage of primary care physicians in PCMH practices reported electronic 

transmission (69.6%) as the primary method for receiving information on patients 

hospitalized or seen in emergency departments compared with non-PCMH practices 

(41.5%). The percentage of primary care physicians in practices reporting quality 

measures or quality indicators to payers or organizations monitoring health care 

quality was higher in PCMH practices (86.8%) compared with non-PCMH practices 

(70.2%). 

Keywords: office-based physicians primary care • National Ambulatory Medical Care 

Survey

Introduction

The patient-centered medical 

home (PCMH) is an enhanced model 

of primary care service delivery that 

is comprehensive and coordinated and 

provides team-based care for all patients 

(1–4). According to the Joint Principles 

of the Patient-Centered Medical Home, 

PCMHs are identified by five core 

attributes: comprehensive care through a 

team of care providers, patient-centered 

care, coordinated care, accessible 

services, and care focused on quality and 

safety (4). The goals of PCMHs are to 

improve the patient experience, improve 

population health, and reduce the cost of 

care (1–5). 

Interest in the PCMH model has 

increased as payers, including the federal 

government, have funded demonstrations 

and payment methods that support it 

(6–11). The Innovation Center at the 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services (CMS) has sponsored several 

demonstrations supporting practices in 

their efforts to become PCMH certified 

(6,7). In addition, payers, including CMS, 

are moving toward higher payment for 

those who are either PCMH certified 

or who demonstrate the provision of 

functions associated with a PCMH (8,9). 

Some states have implemented statewide 
Page 2 National Health Statistics Reports  Number 101  February 17, 2017

programs that pay more toward primary 

care for those in PCMHs (10). Medicare 

currently pays practitioners for 

non-face-to-face care coordination 

services for beneficiaries with multiple 

chronic conditions (11). 

Previous studies on PCMH 

practices have been limited to physician 

organizations, family medicine practices, 

Veterans Administration clinics, and 

federally qualified health centers (12–15). 

Little is known about the prevalence 

of these practices nationwide. In 2013, 

questions were added to the induction 

interview for the National Ambulatory 

Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) to 

determine PCMH status and describe 

PCMH-related characteristics. This 

report presents national estimates of 

PCMH characteristics among primary 

care physicians in 2013. It also compares 

characteristics of primary care physicians 

by whether they work in a PCMH.

Methods

Data source

Data are from NAMCS, an annual, 

nationally representative survey of 

office-based physicians, conducted by 

the National Center for Health Statistics. 

NAMCS’ target universe is physicians 

who provide direct patient care in 

office-based practices. Radiologists, 

anesthesiologists, and pathologists 

were excluded (16). Physicians in 

community health centers (CHCs) were 

excluded from this analysis due to the 

use of different sampling strategies and 

a different sample frame. In addition, the 

data are still in process. 

The sampling frame for the 2013 

NAMCS (not including CHC providers) 

comprises all of the physicians listed 

in the master files maintained by 

the American Medical Association 

(AMA) and the American Osteopathic 

Association (AOA) approximately 

6 months prior to the start of the survey 

year and who met the following criteria: 

● Office based, as defined by AMA and 

AOA

● Principally engaged in patient care 

activities

● Nonfederally employed

● Under age 85 at the time of survey

The 2013 NAMCS sample included 

11,212 physicians (10,595 medical 

doctors and 617 doctors of osteopathy). 

Sample physicians were screened at the 

time of survey to ensure that they met the 

listed criteria. A total of 4,213 physicians 

did not meet all of the criteria and were 

therefore ineligible for the study. The 

most frequent reasons for being out of 

scope were that the physician did not 

see ambulatory patients, was retired, 

or was not office-based. Of the 6,999 

eligible physicians, 4,096 responded to 

the physician induction interview for an 

unweighted response rate of 59% (59% 

weighted). Among these respondents, 

1,345 were primary care physicians. 

Among the primary care physicians, 

1,192 provided information on PCMH 

certification.

Analysis

This report analyzes characteristics 

of primary care physicians, defined 

as those in family or general practice, 

internal medicine, or pediatrics. 

Moreover, this report analyzes only 

primary care physicians, because the 

percentage of specialty physicians in 

PCMH-certified practices was too small 

to provide reliable estimates (2.5%).

This report presents selected 

characteristics of PCMHs, including 

practice size (i.e., the number of 

physicians at the office location where 

the sampled physician had the most 

visits); whether the office is located 

inside or outside a metropolitan statistical 

area (MSA); the presence of any nonphysician clinician (NPC) in the practice, 

such as a physician assistant, nurse 

practitioner, or certified nurse midwife; 

the use of electronic health record (EHR) 

or electronic medical record (EMR) 

systems in the practice; the availability 

and access to patient medical records 

24 hours a day; the electronic receipt 

of patient information when a patient 

is hospitalized or uses an emergency 

department; whether the practice reports 

quality measures or quality indicators 

to either payers or organizations that 

monitor health care quality; and whether 

the practice has a person responsible for 

assisting patients with transitions back 

to their communities within 72 hours of 

hospital or nursing home discharge. A 

copy of the 2013 survey is available at: 

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ahcd/ahcd_

survey_instruments.htm (17). 

This study is subject to several 

limitations. First, the study’s analysis 

excludes primary care physicians 

in CHCs due to different sampling 

strategies. Second, this report excludes 

specialty physicians in PCMHs. Finally, 

the definition of practice size used in 

this report (size at the location where 

the sampled physician had the most 

visits) may not accurately reflect the 

total practice size. Practice size in this 

report refers only to one location. If the 

practice had additional physicians at 

other locations, the practice size may be 

larger than what is reported here. This is 

a possibility for 11.7% of the physicians 

described in this study who work at a 

practice with two or more locations.

NAMCS estimates of physicians in 

practices with one or more NPCs on staff 

have been previously published (18). For 

comparability with previous estimates, 

the estimates presented in this report of 

physicians in practices with NPCs on 

staff exclude responses with missing 

information on NPCs (4.3%). 

Missing data for other PCMH 

characteristics were included in the 

denominator, because missing data were 

infrequent except for the item on whether 

the practice had someone assisting 

institutionalized patients with transitions 

back to their communities (9.4%). 

However, when estimates that excluded 

the missing data from the denominator 

were recalculated, the findings remained 

consistent.

Differences by selected physician 

characteristics were examined using 

t tests for differences in percentages at the 

p = 0.05 level. A weighted least-squares 

regression analysis was used to determine 

the significance of trends by practice 

size. For the weighted least-squares test, 

the null hypothesis is that the slope, β, of 

the regression line does not significantly 

differ from zero (i.e., H0

: β = 0 and HA: 

β ≠ 0). In this modified least-squares 

regression, each estimate is weighted by 

the inverse of the standard error (19).
National Health Statistics Reports  Number 101  February 17, 2017 Page 3

Results

Organization certifying

practice as PCMH

● In 2013, 18.0% of primary care 

physicians were in PCMH-certified 

practices (Figure 1).

● Among primary care physicians 

in PCMH-certified practices, the 

National Committee for Quality 

Assurance (NCQA) was the 

predominant certifying body (41.7% 

of those certified or 7.5% of all 

primary care physicians). 

● The percentage of physicians in 

PCMH practices certified by any of 

the remaining organizations (i.e., 

the Accreditation Association for 

Ambulatory Health Care, The Joint 

Commission, URAC, or others) was 

31.1% of those certified or 5.6% of 

all primary care physicians. 

● Estimates of the percentage of 

physicians in practices certified as 

PCMH by organizations other than 

NCQA are unstable due to small 

sample sizes. 

● For 27.2% of physicians in PCMH 

practices (or 4.9% of all primary 

care physicians), the organization 

granting PCMH certification was 

unknown.

Practice size and urban 

location of physicians in 

PCMH practices 

● In 2013, the percentage of primary 

care physicians in PCMH practices 

increased as practice size increased, 

from 6.2% in solo practices to 21.3% 

in practices with 2–10 physicians 

and to 41.6% in practices with 

11 or more physicians (Figure 2). 

On average, physicians in PCMH 

practices worked in larger practices 

(8.1 physicians per practice) 

compared with physicians in 

non-PCMH practices (4.3 

physicians). In this report, practice 

size is the number of physicians at 

the office location where the sampled 

physician had the most visits. If the 

practice had additional physicians at 

other locations, the practice size may 

be larger than what is reported here.

● The percentage of primary care 

physicians in PCMH practices was 

higher in offices located in urban 

MSAs (18.7%) compared with 

offices located outside of MSAs 

(11.9%) (Figure 2). 

Availability of NPCs in PCMH 

and non-PCMH practices

● NPCs include physician assistants, 

nurse practitioners, and certified 

nurse midwives. In 2013, the 

 

NOTES: PCMH is a patient-centered medical home and NCQA is the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Other 

includes the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, The Joint Commission, URAC, and others. Primary care 

includes family or general practitioners, internists, and pediatricians. Estimates exclude physicians in community health 

centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians missing information on PCMH 

status. See Methods for more information. Access Table I–1 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#1.

SOURCE: NCHS, National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013.

Figure 1. Percentage of primary care physicians, by patient-centered medical home status 

and certifying organization: United States, 2013

1

Trend by practice size is statistically significant. 2

Difference by metropolitan statistical area status is statistically significant.

NOTES: MSA is metropolitan statistical area. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Practice size is the number of physicians at the location where most visits occur. The average number of 

physicians in patient-centered medical home (PCMH) practices is 8.1, while the average number of physicians in 

non-PCMH practices is 4.3. Estimates exclude physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, 

and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians missing information on PCMH status. See Methods for more information. 

Access Table I–2 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#2. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013.

6.2

21.3

18.7

11.9

41.6

PercentPercent

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

11 or more

physicians1

2–10

physicians

Solo 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

MSA2 Non-MSA

Figure 2. Percentage of primary care physicians in patient-centered medical home 

practices, by practice size and metropolitan statistical area status: United States, 2013 
Page 4 National Health Statistics Reports  Number 101  February 17, 2017

percentage of primary care 

physicians in PCMH practices 

(68.8%) with one or more NPCs on 

staff was higher compared with the 

percentage in non-PCMH practices 

(47.7%) (Figure 3).

● The percentage of primary care 

physicians in PCMH practices 

(31.3%) with physician assistants on 

staff was higher than the percentage 

for primary care physicians in 

non-PCMH practices (19.9%).

● The percentage of primary care 

physicians in PCMH practices 

(45.8%) with nurse practitioners 

on staff was also higher than the 

percentage for physicians in 

non-PCMH practices (27.7%).

Practice capabilities of PCMH 

and non-PCMH practices

● In 2013, 94.2% of primary care 

physicians in PCMH practices 

reported that an EHR or EMR 

system was used compared with 

74.3% in non-PCMH practices 

(Figure 4). Higher percentages of 

physicians in solo PCMH practices 

and PCMH practices with 2–10 

physicians used EHR or EMR 

systems compared with non-PCMH 

practices of the same sizes.

● A higher percentage of primary 

care physicians in PCMH practices 

(91.5%) had 24-hour-per-day access 

to their patients’ medical records 

compared with those in non-PCMH 

practices (74.1%). Round-the-clock 

access to patients’ medical records 

was greater in PCMH practices with 

two or more physicians compared 

with non-PCMH practices of the 

same size (Figure 5). 

● A higher percentage of primary 

care physicians in PCMH practices 

(86.8%) reported quality measures 

or quality indicators to either payers 

or organizations that monitor 

health care quality compared with 

primary care physicians in non-PCMH 

practices (70.2%). Higher percentages 

of physicians in solo PCMH 

practices and in PCMH practices 

with 2–10 physicians reported 

quality measures compared with 

non-PCMH practices of the same 

sizes (Figure 6).

● Seven out of 10 primary care 

physicians in PCMH practices 

(69.6%) reported receiving 

information on patients’ 

hospitalization or emergency 

department visits electronically 

(i.e., EHR or EMR systems) 

compared with 4 out of 10 primary 

care physicians in non-PCMH 

practices (41.5%). The percentage of 

physicians who primarily received 

information through electronic 

transmission on patients hospitalized 

or seen in emergency departments 

Figure 3. Percentage of primary care physicians in practices with non-physician clinicians 

on staff, by patient-centered medical home status: United States, 2013

1

Difference between PCMH and non-PCMH percentages is statistically significant.

NOTES: PCMH is patient-centered medical home. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Estimates exclude physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. 

Non-physician clinicians include physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives. Estimates exclude 

physicians missing information on PCMH status or type of non-physician clinician. See Methods for more information. 

Access Table I–3 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#3. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Difference between PCMH and non-PCMH percentages is statistically significant.

NOTES: PCMH is patient-centered medical home. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Practice size is the number of physicians at the location where most visits occur. Estimates exclude 

physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians 

missing information on PCMH status. See Methods for more information. Access Table I–4 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#4. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4. Percentage of primary care physicians in practices using electronic health record 

or electronic medical record systems, by practice size: United States, 2013
National Health Statistics Reports  Number 101  February 17, 2017 Page 5

was higher among those in practices 

with 2–10 physicians (73.8%) 

compared with those in similarly 

sized non-PCMH practices (47.9%) 

(Figure 7). The same pattern was 

observed among physicians in solo 

PCMH practices, but the difference 

was smaller and not statistically 

significant.

● NPCs were more likely to be on staff 

in PCMH practices compared with 

non-PCMH practices, both overall 

(68.8% compared with 47.7%) and 

among practices with one physician 

on staff (52.0% compared with 

29.5%). Greater availability of NPCs 

in PCMH practices followed the 

same pattern in the larger practice 

size categories (2–10 and 11 or more 

physicians), although the differences 

were smaller and not statistically 

significant (Figure 8). 

● A higher percentage of primary 

care physicians in PCMH practices 

(52.6%) reported that someone in 

the practice was responsible for 

assisting patients with transitions 

back to their communities within 

72 hours of hospital or nursing 

home discharge compared with 

non-PCMH practices (37.5%). A higher 

percentage of physicians in PCMH 

practices with 2–10 physicians had a 

person responsible for transitioning 

patients back to their communities 

compared with non-PCMH practices 

of the same size (Figure 9). The 

same pattern was observed for solo 

practices and practices with 11 or 

more physicians, but the differences 

were not statistically significant. 

● The observed difference was not 

statistically significant in the 

receipt of information on patients’ 

hospitalizations or emergency 

department visits by fax between 

primary care physicians in non-PCMH 

practices compared with those in 

PCMH practices (Figure 10).

Discussion

The PCMH model is designed 

to improve health care in America 

by transforming how primary care is 

organized and delivered (3). According 

to the Joint Principles of the 

Patient-Centered Medical Home, five 

1

Difference between PCMH and non-PCMH percentages is statistically significant.

NOTES: PCMH is patient-centered medical home. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Practice size is the number of physicians at the location where most visits occur. Estimates exclude 

physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians 

missing information on PCMH status. See Methods for more information. Access Table I–5 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#5. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5. Percentage of primary care physicians in practices with access to patient medical 

records 24 hours a day, by practice size: United States, 2013

Figure 6. Percentage of primary care physicians in practices reporting quality measures 

or quality indicators to either payers or organizations that monitor health care quality, by 

practice size: United States, 2013 

1

Difference between PCMH and non-PCMH percentages is statistically significant.

NOTES: PCMH is patient-centered medical home. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Practice size is the number of physicians at the location where most visits occur. Estimates exclude 

physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians 

missing information on PCMH status. See Methods for more information. Access Table I–6 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#6. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Page 6 National Health Statistics Reports  Number 101  February 17, 2017

core attributes of PCMHs include: 

comprehensive care through a team of 

care providers, patient-centered care, 

coordinated care, accessible services, and 

care focused on quality and safety (4). 

This report presents national estimates 

on the characteristics of primary care 

physicians in PCMH-certified practices. 

Although multiple organizations 

certified practices as PCMHs, most 

physicians working in PCMH practices 

identified NCQA as the certifying body 

(41.7% of those certified or 7.5% of 

all primary care physicians). Although 

NCQA was the most frequent PCMHcertifying organization, the various 

PCMH recognition programs vary in 

the amount of required documentation, 

application costs, and overall efforts. This 

report, however, did not address these 

issues. 

This report found that primary 

care physicians were more likely to 

be in PCMH practices as practice size 

increased. PCMH practices may be larger 

because PCMH certification requires 

infrastructure investment (including 

health information technology, such 

as an EHR system) in order to provide 

the extra services provided by PCMHs 

(20). Previous studies have found 

that physician use of EHR systems 

increases with practice size (21). In 

addition, funding of primary care 

services typically does not cover the 

extra services provided by PCMHs (20). 

Most PCMH demonstrations included 

additional payments to PCMHs to 

compensate for this funding gap (6–10). 

Finally, the higher presence of primary 

care physicians in PCMH practices 

located in urban areas reflects the high 

concentration of primary care physicians 

in urban areas (22).

This report found that a higher 

percentage of primary care physicians 

in PCMH practices (68.8%) had NPCs 

on staff, such as physician assistants 

and nurse practitioners, compared with 

non-PCMH practices (47.7%). NPCs may 

serve as primary care providers and fulfill 

other roles on PCMH teams (23–24).

Furthermore, this report’s findings 

indicate that primary care physicians in 

PCMH practices had a greater capacity 

to provide around-the-clock access 

to patients’ medical records, perform 

care coordination, and participate in 

quality improvements. Compared with 

primary care physicians in non-PCMH 

practices, primary care physicians in 

PCMH practices used EHR or EMR 

systems (94.2%) more frequently, had 

greater access to patient medical records 

24 hours per day (91.5%), worked in 

practices that reported quality measures 

or quality indicators (86.8%), received 

information primarily through electronic 

1

Difference between PCMH and non-PCMH percentages is statistically significant.

NOTES: PCMH is patient-centered medical home. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Practice size is the number of physicians at the location where most visits occur. Estimates exclude 

physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians 

missing information on PCMH status. See Methods for more information. Access Table I–7 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#7. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 7. Percentage of primary care physicians in practices primarily receiving information 

by electronic transmission on patients hospitalized or seen in emergency departments, by 

practice size: United States, 2013 

Figure 8. Percentage of primary care physicians in practices with one or more 

non-physician clinicians, by practice size: United States, 2013

1

Difference between PCMH and non-PCMH percentages is statistically significant.

NOTES: PCMH is patient-centered medical home. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Practice size is the number of physicians at the location where most visits occur. Estimates exclude 

physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians 

missing information on PCMH status. See Methods for more information. Access Table I–8 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#8. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
National Health Statistics Reports  Number 101  February 17, 2017 Page 7

transmission on patients hospitalized 

or seen in an emergency department 

(69.6%), and had someone in the practice 

responsible for assisting patients with 

transitions back to their communities 

within 72 hours of hospital or nursing 

home discharge (52.6%). Regardless 

of the practice size category, a general 

pattern of higher performance or 

availability of PCMH-related functions 

was observed among physicians 

in PCMH practices compared with 

physicians in non-PCMH practices, 

although some differences were smaller 

and not statistically significant.

While this report describes functions 

available to primary care physicians 

in PCMH practices relative to those 

available to primary care physicians in 

non-PCMH practices, it does not compare 

outcomes for patients seen by physicians 

in PCMH practices with those seen by 

physicians in non-PCMH practices. 

References

1. The patient centered medical home: 

History, seven core features, evidence and 

transformational change. Washington, DC: 

Robert Graham Center. 2007. Available 

from: http://www.graham-center.org/

dam/rgc/documents/publications-reports/

monographs-books/rgcmo-medical-home.

pdf.

2. Stange KC, Nutting PA, Miller WL, 

Jaén CR, Crabtree BF, Flocke SA, Gill 

JM. Defining and measuring the patientcentered medical home. J Gen Intern 

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Article_1291.pdf.

3. Nielsen M, Buelt L, Patel K, Nichols L. 

The patient-centered medical home’s 

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files/2015_ANNUAL_EVIDENCE_

REPORT.pdf.

4. American Academy of Family Physicians, 

American Academy of Pediatrics, 

American College of Physicians, 

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practice_management/pcmh/initiatives/

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Casalino LP, Shortell SM, Alexander JA. 

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Health Aff (Millwood) 35(1):141–9. 2016.

1

Difference between PCMH and non-PCMH percentages is statistically significant.

NOTES: PCMH is patient-centered medical home. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Practice size is the number of physicians at the location where most visits occur. Estimates exclude 

physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians 

missing information on PCMH status. See Methods for more information. Access Table I–9 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#9. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 9. Percentage of primary care physicians in practices with person responsible for 

transitioning patients back to their communities within 72 hours of being discharged from 

hospital or nursing home, by practice size: United States, 2013

Figure 10. Percentage of primary care physicians in practices primarily receiving 

information on patients hospitalized or seen in emergency departments by fax, by 

practice size: United States, 2013

NOTES: PCMH is patient-centered medical home. Primary care includes family or general practitioners, internists, and 

pediatricians. Practice size is the number of physicians at the location where most visits occur. Estimates exclude 

physicians in community health centers, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists. Estimates exclude physicians 

missing information on PCMH status. See Methods for more information. Access Table I–10 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/nhsr/nhsr101_table.pdf#10. 

SOURCE: NCHS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2013. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Page 8 National Health Statistics Reports  Number 101  February 17, 2017

6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services. Comprehensive Primary Care 

Initiative. Baltimore, MD. Available from:

https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/

comprehensive-primary-care-initiative/.

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innovation models: Early experiences 

and challenges of an initiative to 

advance broad health system reform. 

Issue Brief (Commonw Fund) 25:1–12. 

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Publications/Issue%20Brief/2013/

Sep/1706_SilowCarroll_state_innovation_

models_ib1.pdf.

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medical home programs are improving the 

practice and delivery of primary care in 

communities nationwide [press release]. 

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org/resource/blue-cross-and-blue-shieldpatient-centered-medical-home-programsare-improving-practice.

9. Evaluation of the multi-payer advanced 

primary care practice (MAPCP) 

demonstration: Third annual report. RTI 

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National Health Statistics Reports  Number 101  February 17, 2017

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Suggested citation

Hing E, Kurtzman E, Lau DT, et al. 

Characteristics of primary care physicians 

in patient-centered medical home practices: 

United States, 2013. National health statistics 

reports; no 101. Hyattsville, MD: National Center 

for Health Statistics. 2017.

Copyright information

All material appearing in this report is in 

the public domain and may be reproduced 

or copied without permission; citation as to 

source, however, is appreciated.

National Center for Health Statistics

Charles J. Rothwell, M.S., M.B.A., Director

Jennifer H. Madans, Ph.D., Associate Director 

for Science

Division of Health Care Statistics

Denys T. Lau, Ph.D., Acting Director

Alexander Strashny, Ph.D., Associate Director 

for Science