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HMG receives national certification as a patient-centered medical home by the NCQA
HMG is the first organization in the region and only the second in the state to acheive this level of designation.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announced that Holston Medical Group has received recognition from the Physician Practice Connections Patient-Centered Medical Home (PPC-PCMH) program for using evidence-based, patient centered techniques that focus on highly coordinated care and long-term participative relationships.
HMG is the first organization in the region and only the second organization within the state of Tennessee to achieve this level of patient-centered excellence.
“We’re quite pleased to have received this recognition,” begins HMG Medical Director, Robert C. Lee, MD. “Our physician-led, team approach to highly-coordinated care not only engages our patients by encouraging them to be more involved in their care but also provides our patients with better health care quality while reducing avoidable costs.”
HMG President Scott R. Fowler, MD, agrees. Adding that it was HMG’s early adoption of integrated technology that paved the way for the Group’s patient-centered medical home certification.
“This designation is the result of the foresight of our team of physicians who, more than a decade ago, saw the value of fully-integrated electronic health information technology in improving patient care,” begins Dr. Fowler. “Then, empowered by this level of integration, we were able to lead the way in utilizing a collaborative approach to comprehensive patient care that championed the benchmarks of a patient-centered medical home.”
Practices receiving the NCQA recognition are those that have promoted partnerships between individual patients and their personal physicians. Instead of treating patient care as the sum of several episodic office visits, each patient’s care is tended to by a physician-led care team, who provides for all the patient’s health care needs and coordinates treatments across the health care system. These “medical home” practices and physicians demonstrate benchmarks of patient-centered care, including open scheduling, expanded hours and appropriate use of proven health information systems.
“The patient-centered medical home promises to improve health and health care,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “The active, ongoing relationship between a patient and a physician in a medical home practice fosters an
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all-too-rare goal in care; staying healthy and preventing illness in the first place. PPC-PCMH recognition shows that Holston Medical Group has tools, systems and resources to provide their patients with the right care at the right time.”
To receive recognition, which is valid for three years, Holston Medical Group demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key criteria embodying characteristics of the medical home. The standards are aligned with the joint principles of the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Osteopathic Association.
Holston Medical Group met key program measures in the following areas:
• Written standards for patient access and enhanced communications
• Appropriate use of charting tools to track patients and organize clinical information
• Responsive care management techniques with an emphasis on preventive care
• Adaptation to patient’s cultural and linguistic needs
• Use of information technology for prescriptions and care management
• Use of evidence-based guidelines to treat chronic conditions
• Systematic tracking of referrals and test results
• Measurement and reporting of clinical and service performance
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes physicians in key clinical areas. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care.
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