The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will apply a $1.7 million grant to help primary care practices boost care for older patients with chronic illnesses.

The Lipitz Center will use the grant to help medical practices in eight states - to be selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services - qualify for and participate in CMS' three-year Medicare Medical Home Demonstration project.

Key to the medical home model is the use of information technology to track care.

The Lipitz Center received the grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation, which is focused on training, research and system innovations that promote the health and independence of older adults.

Charles E. Boult, MD, will oversee the project, which will offer healthcare providers information, education and technical support based on the Hopkins-developed guided care model for chronically ill older adults.

Led by Boult, the guided care model was developed in 2002 by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins.

"Older adults with chronic conditions are a critical and growing medical challenge in need of new solutions," said Boult. "If this demonstration is successful, the medical home could become the new standard for treating the chronically ill."