With funding from the Hartford grant, and drawing on its guided care model, the Lipitz Center will develop and provide primary care practices with online courses for physicians and nurses, a practice implementation manual and technical assistance in meeting the Medicare Medical Home Demonstration's requirements.

The center will team with the American Academy of Family Physicians/TransforMED, the American College of Physicians, the Medical Group Management Association and The Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing.

In the guided care model, a specially trained registered nurse is based in a primary care office and works closely with physicians and chronically ill patients to improve quality of life and reduce the need for expensive inpatient health services.

Industry statistics show that Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions account for 80 percent of Medicare spending, which totaled $425 billion in 2007.