Practices in Patient-Centered Medical Home program to receive new incentives

Primary care practices that are part of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program will soon be offered new incentives to adopt health information technology and become more patient-centered.

The incentives are part of updated standards for PCMHs released January 31 by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a private, nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies a wide range of healthcare organizations.

The new standards, known as PCMH 2011, emphasize access to care during and after regular office hours, and managing care in collaboration with patients and their families. Other aspects of patient-centeredness include providing services in patients’ preferred languages, helping patients with self-care, and facilitating access to community resources.

“NCQA’s new medical home standards will enhance care coordination, clinician and staff satisfaction, and primary care quality nationwide, while putting patients in the driver’s seat to manage their health,” said Susan Edgman-Levitan, leader of the advisory committee that helped NCQA create the PCMH 2011 standards.

The PCMH 2011 standards can be downloaded by going to www.ncqa.org/view-pcmh2011.