Researchers present Massachusetts model and a 'common fund' approach for primary-care financing

Researchers from Harvard and partner organizations presented evidence and practical lessons about scaling investments in primary care and the operational challenges of payment reform.

Russ Phillips (Center for Primary Care, Harvard Medical School) and Dr. Suri Song (Mass General / Harvard Medical School) summarized multi-state work showing that advanced primary-care services (behavioral health integration, clinical pharmacy, care management and e-consults) can reduce hospitalization and improve outcomes when investments are sustained. Song illustrated trade-offs in payment models and suggested that states may need to approach a target on the order of "100 PMPM" to fully fund team-based care, saying, "we need to be somewhere probably around a 100 PMPM in order to support primary care services." The presenters also described Massachusetts's legislative effort and a "common fund" concept that pools payer contributions and disperses PMPM subsidies directly to practices to reduce administrative burden and ensure funds reach frontline teams.

Board members asked about feasibility, how to handle markets outside state authority (Medicare, self-insured plans), and practical implementation questions such as risk adjustment and monitoring. Presenters offered to share slides and related materials for the board's follow-up modeling work.