The fragmentation of outpatient health care drives up the cost of care and worsens the quality of care that patients receive, posing a risk to patients’ health. On this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, guests James Lee of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, Knitasha Washington of ATW Health Solutions, Bob Phillips of the Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care, and Lori Timmins of Mathematica discuss recent research on the nature of the problem and federal initiatives that have sought to address it.

A full transcript of the episode is available at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/understanding-and-addressing-fragmented-outpatient-health-care

Read a press release synthesizing key takeaways from a series of peer-reviewed journal articles on fragmented outpatient care based on studies conducted by Mathematica with support from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: https://www.mathematica.org/news/new-studies-reveal-that-fragmented-care-persists-despite-efforts-to-improve-primary-care-and-care

Learn more about how the Innovation Center and Mathematica are advancing understanding of primary care through an evaluation of the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/evaluating-the-nations-largest-primary-care-delivery-initiative

Learn more about an ongoing evaluation by Mathematica for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to determine whether medical practices’ participation in the Primary Care First alternative payment model improves quality and reduces costs for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/evaluation-of-the-primary-care-first-model

Read the 2021 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on implementing high quality primary care: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25983/implementing-high-quality-primary-care-rebuilding-the-foundation-of-health