Public Comment Is Open! Share Your Feedback on a New Accreditation for Advanced Primary Care and Updates to Health Plan Accreditation
June 8, 2026 · NCQA Communications
NCQA seeks feedback on a new Accreditation for Advanced Primary Care and updates to Health Plan Accreditation. Reviewers can submit comments to NCQA in writing via the Public Comment website by 11:59 p.m. (ET), Friday, July 10.
About NCQA’s Public Comment
NCQA releases program updates for public comment to generate thoughtful feedback and suggestions from interested parties. Many comments lead to updates to our standards and policies, strengthening them for all stakeholders. NCQA asks respondents to evaluate whether the proposed requirements are feasible as written and clearly articulated, and to identify areas that may need clarification.
Summary of Proposed Changes
Below is a summary of the proposed changes to NCQA’s programs and standards. You can review the full details on NCQA’s website.
New Accreditation Program for Advanced Primary Care
NCQA developed Advanced Primary Care Accreditation in response to evolving expectations for how primary care is delivered, financed and evaluated across the healthcare landscape. It reinforces the shift toward payment models that reward longitudinal, coordinated, team-based care management.
The program builds on NCQA’s Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition by incorporating enhanced capabilities, greater accountability and improved infrastructure. Program standards proposed for public comment are organized into six domains:
- Population Health Management.
- Coordinated, Team-Based Care.
- Patient Safety and Experience.
- Behavioral Health.
- Clinical Quality.
- Data Management and Exchange.
The program also includes a quality measure bundle designed to balance near-term feasibility with long-term innovation. Established electronic clinical quality measures (eCQM) that many organizations already collect and report are used to assess current performance, while separate utilization reporting requirements provide insight into care delivery patterns. A limited set of FHIR®-enabled digital quality measures (dQM) signals future expectations and offers a clear roadmap for advancing digital quality reporting over time.
This Accreditation was developed with extensive market engagement, feedback from advisory groups and a pilot program that offered real-world insights across diverse primary care delivery models.
The program will be released in November 2026, with survey availability beginning in July 2027.
Proposed Health Plan Accreditation Update
NCQA proposes updates to the 2027 Health Plan Accreditation to reduce administrative burden, streamline evidence expectations and encourage continued alignment with external regulatory requirements, while continuing to support meaningful evaluation of health plan performance.
Proposed updates include:
- A focused set of requirement reductions and refinements to streamline the program and reduce administrative burden, particularly for Renewal Surveys.
- Clarifications to improve consistency and usability of requirements.
- A new requirement addressing oversight of AI-generated outputs within the Utilization Management domain.
These changes represent a targeted, evidence-based step toward a more streamlined and modernized Health Plan Accreditation program.
How to Participate in Public Comment
Visit My NCQA to submit comments through our new and improved public comment process.
The public comment period ends at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday, July 10. For details on proposed changes, visit the NCQA website.
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