Health Network Recognizes Primary Care Practices That Have Achieved ‘Medical Home’ Recognition

In Brief

• At a special event on Sept. 14, the Crozer-Keystone Health Network celebrated its achievements in advancing the “medical home” concept.
• Thirty Crozer-Keystone Health Network primary care physician practices have received the highest level of recognition (Level III) from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) under its Physician Practice Connections-Patient Centered Medical Home (PPC-PCMH) Program.
• As a medical home, a primary care practice serves as a central source for all of a patient’s health care needs, coordinating and integrating any interface with other specialists, maintaining electronic medical records, prompting follow-up visits and developing a strong relationship with the patient overall.

At a special event on Sept. 14, the Crozer-Keystone Health Network celebrated its achievements in advancing the “medical home” concept. At least 30 Crozer-Keystone Health Network primary care physician practices have received the highest level of recognition (Level III) from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) under its Physician Practice Connections-Patient Centered Medical Home (PPC-PCMH) Program.

At the event, held at the Springfield Country Club, Crozer-Keystone executives presented the practices with framed posters signifying the PPC-PCMH Level III recognition. The posters will be placed in the practices’ waiting rooms.

The “medical home” model was first introduced in 1967, and has gained traction more recently for its commonsense approach to health care quality and efficiency. As a medical home, a primary care practice serves as a central source for all of a patient’s health care needs, coordinating and integrating any interface with other specialists, maintaining electronic medical records, prompting follow-up visits and developing a strong relationship with the patient overall. Having recognized the transformative power of this concept, the Crozer-Keystone Health Network is leading the way in creating a new generation of medical home practices.

“About three years ago, we were looking ahead to what we thought health care might look like in the future,” says Susan Williams, M.D., penior physician for Network Affairs and senior physician for Clinical Integration at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. “With or without health care reform, we knew we were going to have to improve our effectiveness and deliver higher quality care and the lowest possible cost. With a strong tradition of primary care in our health system, we were well positioned to make it even better.”

PPC-PCMH identifies practices that promote 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, which provides for all the patient’s health care needs and coordinates treatments across the health care system. Medical home physicians provide superior, patient-centered care through practices such as open scheduling, expanded hours and appropriate use of proven health information systems.

“We’re extremely proud of all of our primary care practices for embracing the medical home concept and working diligently to achieve certification with the help of Crozer-Keystone’s outstanding information services team. Above all, it demonstrates a strong commitment to providing the best possible patient care,” says Jim Stuccio, president of the Crozer-Keystone Health Network.

NCQA is a private, nonprofit 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. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more information health care choices.

Call 1-800-CK-HEALTH (1-800-254-3258) or visit www.crozerkeystone.org to find a Crozer-Keystone physician who’s right for you. Same-day appointments are available for primary care physicians (family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics) for patients who call before 10 a.m.