Health Outcomes Accreditation + Community-Focused Care Accreditation

Organizations may pursue Health Outcomes Accreditation and Community-Focused Care Accreditation independently, or may pursue both together.

Health Outcomes Accreditation may be the best fit if:

• Your organization’s mission is to provide accessible, culturally or linguistically appropriate care or services.
• Your organization needs external accountability to establish, strengthen or sustain quality improvement for clinical quality measures or patient/member experience measures.
• Your population health and quality improvement strategies can benefit from addressing differences (or disparities) in clinical outcomes.
• Your state has priorities, incentives or performance expectations to reduce clinical gaps in care or health disparities.

Community-Focused Care Accreditation may be the best fit if:

• Your organization’s mission is to provide member-/patient-centered whole person care or services.
• Non-medical drivers of health (e.g., upstream drivers, social needs, SDOH) pose barriers to members/patients achieving their best health.
• Your organization wants to demonstrate to payers and local, state or contracting partners that it understands its community’s needs and collaborates across sectors to meet those needs.
• Your organization needs external accountability to establish, strengthen or sustain efforts to address non-medical drivers of health.
• Your state has priorities, incentives or performance expectations to address non-medical drivers of health.

More information is available here for organizations currently Accredited in Health Equity and/or Health Equity Plus.

NCQA Health Outcomes Accreditation Program

NCQA’s Health Outcomes Accreditation program, formerly Health Equity Accreditation, helps health care organizations gain a more nuanced, data-driven understanding of their population’s unique health needs and experiences. Through standardized data collection, measurement and continuous quality improvement processes, Accredited organizations demonstrate their:

• Understanding of their population and its unique or specific needs.
• Ability to identify disparities or differences in health outcomes, experience or access, and act to address barriers that drive them.
• Commitment to continuous monitoring of progress using measures tailored to their unique population or setting.

Benefits for Accredited Organizations:

• 15+ years as the gold standard for continuously improving quality of and access to care.
• Promotes data-driven methods for identifying and addressing gaps in care, improving member/patient experience and tracking intervention effectiveness.
• Broad, nationwide adoption helps state partners, contracting partners and business units or markets align around common goals and priorities.
• External accountability for improving health outcomes and sustaining long-term investments for public health, population health, health equity or community engagement.
• Offers a balance of standardized methods and the ability to tailor measures and interventions for a population or setting’s unique needs.

NCQA Community-Focused Care Accreditation Program

NCQA’s Community-Focused Care Accreditation program, formerly Health Equity Accreditation Plus, helps health care organizations cultivate community-based partnerships to connect members/patients to non-medical or social needs resources. Through standardized data collection, collaboration with community partners and continuous quality improvement, Accredited organizations demonstrate their:

• Understanding of non-medical drivers of health (e.g., upstream drivers, social needs, SDOH) that impact their member/patient population—and the broader community.
• Ability to establish partnerships with community-based organizations to connect members or patients to resources.
• Efforts to meet member/patient needs and improve screening and referral processes.

Benefits for Accredited Organizations

• Promotes data-driven methods for prioritizing non-medical or social needs investments, improving collaboration with community-based partners and tracking intervention effectiveness.
• Growing, nationwide adoption helps local, state and contracting partners align around common goals and priorities.
• External accountability for sustaining long-term, non-medical or social needs investments to improve population health and support community well-being.
• Instills best practices for cultivating partnerships with community-based organizations to connect patients to resources.
• Offers a balance of standardized methods and the ability to tailor interventions for a population or setting’s unique needs.

More information is available here for organizations currently Accredited in Health Equity and/or Health Equity Plus.