PEDIATRIC PRACTICES HELP FUEL GROWTH OF MEDICAL HOMES
WASHINGTON, DC—Pediatric practices make up almost 20% of the more than 2,000 practices from all specialties that earned recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Physician Practice Connections®—Patient-Centered Medical Home™ (PPC-PCMH) in 2011.
In November, Helping Hands Pediatrics of South Bloomfield, OH, was the 375th pediatric practice—and the 3,000th practice overall—to become an NCQA medical home.
The NCQA Medical Home program began in 2008 and is health care’s most widely adopted model for medical homes. It is also NCQA’s fastest-growing service, with more than 15,000 clinicians having successfully completed the program.
“The growth in PCMH Recognition confirms that pediatricians and other clinicians are eager to work in a 21st century practice environment that combines teamwork and technology to deliver excellent care,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Pediatricians’ interest is particularly gratifying because they are among the founders of PCMH.”
Pediatricians pioneered the medical home concept in the 1970s. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) helped design NCQA’s original medical home standards from 2006 to 2008.
NCQA’s newest medical home standards, PCMH 2011, emphasize pediatrics even more strongly than the 2008 standards did. Pediatric examples and explanations pervade the new standards, and include discussions of Bright Futures prevention guidelines, age-appropriate screenings and the transition from pediatric to adult care.
ABOUT PATIENT-CENTERED MEDICAL HOMES
A patient-centered medical home is a model of care that uses information technology and teamwork to transform the physician-patient relationship from a series of disjointed visits to an ongoing partnership dedicated to keeping patients healthy.
Hallmarks of NCQA medical homes are enhanced access and continuity of care; managing population health; tracking and coordinating care, and measuring and improving performance over time.
ABOUT HELPING HANDS PEDIATRICS
Helping Hands Pediatrics serves the rural community of South Bloomfield/Circleville, OH, 30 miles south of Columbus. The practice was founded in 2003 and employs three physicians, two nurses and six non-clinical support staff.
ABOUT NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.
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