NCH Medical Group earns national recognition for patient-centered care
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (December 2, 2013) – The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announced that Northwest Community Healthcare's (NCH) Medical Group has received recognition for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long-term relationships between patients and their personal clinicians.
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. Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and can improve patients' and providers' reported experiences of care. The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition (PCMH) program identifies practices that promote partnerships between individual patients and their personal clinicians, rather than treating patient care as the sum of episodic office visits. Each patient's care is delivered by clinician-led care teams that provide all healthcare needs and coordinate treatments across the healthcare system. Medical home clinicians demonstrate the benchmarks of patient-centered care, including open scheduling, expanded hours and appropriate use of proven health information systems.
“The patient-centered medical home raises the bar in defining high-quality care by emphasizing access, health information technology and partnerships between clinicians and patients,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. “PCMH Recognition shows that the NCH Medical Group has the 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, the NCH Medical Group demonstrated the ability to meet the program's key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home. Standards align with the joint principles of the patient-centered medical home established with the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Osteopathic Association.
The NCH Medical Group met key program components in the following areas:
• Written standards for patient access and continuity of care
• Use of patient feedback materials
• Appropriate use of charting tools to track patients and organize clinical information
• Responsive care management techniques with an emphasis on preventive care for individual patients and for the entire patient population
• Adaptation to patients' cultural and linguistic needs
• Use of information technology for prescriptions, test and referral tracking, and coordination with other healthcare providers
• Use of evidence-based guidelines to treat chronic conditions
• Measurement and reporting of clinical and service performance
The following NCH Medical Group offices received the NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition:
• 1450 Busch Parkway, Buffalo Grove
• 1538 N. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights
• 1051 W. Rand Road, Arlington Heights
• 199 W. Rand Road, Mount Prospect
• 1700 W. Central Road, Arlington Heights
• 500 N. Hicks Road, Palatine
About NCH Medical Group
NCH Medical Group is the physician group belonging to the Northwest Community Healthcare comprehensive, patient-centered system of care that serves more than 350,000 outpatients each year, as well as nearly 30,000 inpatients treated annually at the 496-bed acute care hospital in Arlington Heights. NCH Medical Group treats approximately 60,000 patients each year from the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The practice has 77 physicians and 6 mid-level providers, representing allergy, dermatology, endocrinology, family practice, gastroenterology, internal medicine, neurology, primary care, rheumatology and urology.
About NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.