New NCQA standards take patient-centered medical home to next level
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) released new standards for its patient-centered medical home (PCMH) program. The new standards call on medical practices to be more patient-centered and reinforce federal meaningful use incentives for primary care practices to adopt health IT.
The patient-centered medical home is a model of care emphasizing care coordination and communication to transform primary care into “what patients want it to be,” NCQA stated.
As of the end of 2010, almost 7,700 clinicians at more than 1,500 sites nationwide used NCQA standards as a road map to receive NCQA recognition as patient-centered medical homes, according to the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
PCMH 2011 directs practices to organize care according to patients’ preferences and needs. Standards emphasize access to care during and after office hours, and managing care in collaboration with patients and families, the organization noted. “Other aspects of patient-centeredness include providing services in patients’ preferred languages, helping patients with self-care and facilitating patient access to community resources.”
NCQA is collaborating with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop a medical home version of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Clinician & Group Survey, an evaluation of patient experience. NCQA stated it expects to release CAHPS for medical homes in the second half of 2011. Starting in January 2012, practices may receive additional NCQA Distinction by voluntarily reporting patient experience data, NCQA stated.
To support patient-centered care for children, PCMH 2011 standards include parental decision making, teen privacy and guardianship. Standards also cover communication between medical facilities about newborns’ lab results and guidelines for planning the transition from pediatric to adult care.
Federal meaningful use language is embedded in PCMH 2011 evaluation standards, reinforcing incentives for practices to use health information technology to improve quality, the organization added.
Download PCMH 2011 standards here.
The patient-centered medical home is a model of care emphasizing care coordination and communication to transform primary care into “what patients want it to be,” NCQA stated.
As of the end of 2010, almost 7,700 clinicians at more than 1,500 sites nationwide used NCQA standards as a road map to receive NCQA recognition as patient-centered medical homes, according to the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
PCMH 2011 directs practices to organize care according to patients’ preferences and needs. Standards emphasize access to care during and after office hours, and managing care in collaboration with patients and families, the organization noted. “Other aspects of patient-centeredness include providing services in patients’ preferred languages, helping patients with self-care and facilitating patient access to community resources.”
NCQA is collaborating with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop a medical home version of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Clinician & Group Survey, an evaluation of patient experience. NCQA stated it expects to release CAHPS for medical homes in the second half of 2011. Starting in January 2012, practices may receive additional NCQA Distinction by voluntarily reporting patient experience data, NCQA stated.
To support patient-centered care for children, PCMH 2011 standards include parental decision making, teen privacy and guardianship. Standards also cover communication between medical facilities about newborns’ lab results and guidelines for planning the transition from pediatric to adult care.
Federal meaningful use language is embedded in PCMH 2011 evaluation standards, reinforcing incentives for practices to use health information technology to improve quality, the organization added.
Download PCMH 2011 standards here.