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Over the past few weeks, I’ve been spending my time doing a ton of 1:1 interviews (while watching it rain and rain here in Philadelphia). I've have had the opportunity to speak with US clinicians across a range of specialties -- primary care, infectious disease, neurology in particular -- on topics related to TPP testing and new product adoption, message development, and optimizing patient support programs.
A term that surfaced in more than a few of these occasions was the “medical home model.” While often mentioned in passing, and particularly among older, more tenured HCPs, it’s a concept that deserves closer examination, especially for those of us thinking about how to effectively bring new therapies or technologies to the market.
The "medical home," more formally known as the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), is a care delivery model rooted in primary care. At its core, the medical home is about delivering comprehensive, coordinated, and continuous care that is accessible and focused on quality and safety. While the term has evolved over time, the foundation was laid as early as the 1960s, originally as a framework for managing pediatric patients with complex health needs. Since then, the model has been redefined and expanded to adult care and adopted by numerous health systems, payers, and quality bodies.
PCMHs emphasize team-based care, care coordination, patient engagement, and the use of health care information technology. Primary care providers (PCPs) operate as the hub of care—managing not only routine issues but also acting as a central point for specialty referrals, diagnostics, behavioral health, and chronic disease management.
For pharma, biotech and medtech marketers, the implications of the medical home model are far-reaching. In traditional commercial models, specialty care might be the primary focus when launching a new therapeutic. But under the medical home paradigm, primary care becomes a more strategic touchpoint, even for conditions traditionally thought of as “specialist-managed.”
Consider the case of neurology: while a neurologist may ultimately initiate treatment for conditions like multiple sclerosis or migraine headache, the PCP is often the first to evaluate symptoms, make referrals, and provide ongoing management of the patient's comorbidities. In a PCMH, the primary care provider doesn’t just hand off the patient—they remain significantly involved, guiding care across the continuum.
Marketers need to rethink how they map the influence of different stakeholders. The PCMH model prioritizes communication among providers, shared electronic health records, and evidence-based protocols. This means clinical decisions are increasingly made within a team context, with input from pharmacists, nurse practitioners, case managers, and behavioral health specialists. In certain settings and situations, add to that: social workers, respiratory therapists, nutritionists, etc.
A marketing approach that targets only the "end prescriber" risks missing the upstream influencers and the broader ecosystem in which prescribing decisions are made. Messaging that speaks to team-based benefits—such as ease of coordination, reduction in polypharmacy risk or risk of DDIs, or support for quality metrics—can resonate more powerfully than messages focused purely on clinical efficacy.
There are also significant implications for market access strategy. Payers are increasingly aligning incentives with medical home principles—rewarding providers for reducing hospitalizations, improving chronic disease control, and meeting care quality benchmarks. Brands that can demonstrate real-world outcomes aligned with these goals may find a more receptive audience, both at the practice level and within payer contracting discussions.
Real-world evidence, outcomes-based contracting, and population health data are no longer “nice to have,” they’re becoming central to how new products are evaluated. When the primary care setting is the hub, marketers must be prepared to articulate not only how their product works, but how it fits into broader care pathways.
The mention of the “medical home” in qualitative interviews is not incidental -- it reflects a shift in how care is delivered and decisions are made. For commercial and insights teams listening in, this is a cue to dig deeper. I've begun to do this automatically when I moderate.
As we bring increasingly complex and specialized products to market, we must remember that healthcare is becoming more integrated, not less. The medical home model reminds us that success doesn’t hinge solely on the specialist’s desk—but on the entire network of coordinated care.
