Top‑Level Patient‑Centered Care
Every CHAS Health primary care clinic is recognized as a NCQA PCMH (patient centered medical home) at the highest level possible.
We strive to be patient-centered with every aspect at CHAS Health. In fact, being patient centered is one of our core values. What does that mean? It means we provide care that the patient wants from the first contact to appointments to referral follow up. Instead of starting with the question “what’s the matter with you?” we start “what matters to you?” and work from there.
The Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of care that puts patients at the forefront of care. PCMHs build better relationships between people and their clinical care teams. Research shows that they improve quality, the patient experience and staff satisfaction, while reducing health care costs.
NCQA’s Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition Program is the most widely adopted Patient-Centered Medical Home evaluation program in the country. More than 12,000 practices (with more than 60,000 clinicians) are recognized by NCQA. And more than 100 payers support NCQA recognition through financial incentives or coaching.
If your practice earns recognition through NCQA, it means you have made a commitment to providing a commitment to quality improvement within your practice and a patient-centered approach to care that results in patients that are happier and healthier.
Earning NCQA PCMH recognition is not something easily achieved; so when you walk in to a CHAS Health clinic you can be at ease knowing you come first and will work directly with your provider help you be the healthiest you can be.
About NCQA
The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. Since its founding in 1990, NCQA has been a central figure in driving improvement throughout the health care system, helping to elevate the issue of health care quality to the top of the national agenda.
The NCQA seal is a widely recognized symbol of quality. Organizations incorporating the seal into advertising and marketing materials must first pass a rigorous, comprehensive review and must annually report on their performance. For consumers and employers, the seal is a reliable indicator that an organization is well-managed and delivers high quality care and service.
NCQA has helped to build consensus around important health care quality issues by working with large employers, policymakers, doctors, patients and health plans to decide what’s important, how to measure it, and how to promote improvement. That consensus is invaluable — transforming our health care system requires the collected will and resources of all these constituencies and more.
NCQA’s programs and services reflect a straightforward formula for improvement: Measure. Analyze. Improve. Repeat. NCQA makes this process possible in health care by developing quality standards and performance measures for a broad range of health care entities. These measures and standards are the tools that organizations and individuals can use to identify opportunities for improvement. The annual reporting of performance against such measures has become a focal point for the media, consumers, and health plans, which use these results to set their improvement agendas for the following year.
NCQA’s contribution to the health care system is regularly measured in the form of statistics that track the quality of care delivered by the nation’s health plans. Every year for the past five years, these numbers have improved; health care protocols have been refined, doctors have learned new ways to practice, and patients have become more engaged in their care. Those improvements in quality care translate into lives saved, illnesses avoided and costs reduced. For instance, for every additional person who receives beta blockers after a heart attack, chances of suffering a second, perhaps fatal, heart attack are reduced by up to 40%.
NCQA consistently raises the bar. Accredited health plans today face a rigorous set of more than 60 standards and must report on their performance in more than 40 areas in order to earn NCQA’s seal of approval. And even more stringent standards are being developed today. These standards will promote the adoption of strategies that we believe will improve care, enhance service and reduce costs, such as paying providers based on performance, leveraging the Web to give consumers more information, disease management and physician-level measurement.
Health plans in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are
NCQA Accredited. These plans cover 109 million Americans or 70.5 percent of all Americans enrolled in health plans.
AAAHC Accreditation
AAAHC accreditation means that CHAS Health has met nationally recognized standards for:
• Quality improvement and patient safety
• Clinical care and services
• Infection prevention and control
• Patient rights and education
• Governance, leadership, and organizational effectiveness
Accreditation is not a one-time event. CHAS Health participates in continuous self-evaluation and quality improvement throughout the three-year accreditation cycle to ensure we consistently deliver safe, high-quality care every day.
AAAHC accreditation is widely recognized by health care organizations, payors, regulatory agencies, and the public as a symbol of excellence in ambulatory health care.
Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH)
CHAS Health is also recognized as a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) through AAAHC.
A Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of care that puts patients at the center of everything we do. Under AAAHC PCMH standards, care is:
• Patient-centered – care is respectful of individual preferences, needs, and values
• Comprehensive – primary care teams address physical health, behavioral health, and preventive care
• Coordinated – care is organized across specialists, hospitals, labs, and community services
• Accessible – patients have timely access to care, information, and their care team
• Committed to quality and safety – care is guided by evidence-based practices and ongoing quality improvement
This model strengthens the partnership between patients and their care teams and supports better health outcomes through proactive, coordinated care
Patient-Centered Dental Home (PCDH)
CHAS Health’s Patient-Centered Dental Home (PCDH) recognition reflects the same commitment to patient-centered care within our dental services.
Under AAAHC standards, a Patient-Centered Dental Home emphasizes:
• An ongoing relationship between patients and their dental care team
• Preventive and comprehensive oral health care
• Coordination between dental and medical providers when appropriate
• Patient education and shared decision-making
• Continuous quality improvement and patient safety
The dental home model supports improved oral health outcomes and recognizes the important connection between oral health and overall health.
What This Means for Our Patients
AAAHC accreditation and PCMH/PCDH recognition mean that CHAS Health is committed to:
• Providing safe, high-quality care
• Treating patients as active partners in their care
• Continuously improving our services
• Supporting whole-person health
These recognitions reflect our promise to our patients and communities: quality care, centered on you.
