Categorized | Health

WHCHC earns recognition for patient-centered care

MEDIA RELEASE

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recently announced West Hawaii Community Health Center has received recognition as a Patient-Centered Medical Home 2011 program for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long-term participative relationships.

The patient-centered medical home is a model of care that promotes partnership among practitioners, patients, and their families and ensures that decisions respect patients’ wants, needs, and preferences.

Patients are provided the support and education that help them make decisions and participate in their own care.

Each patient is supported by a health care team who addresses the patient’s health care needs and coordinates and facilitates their treatments across the health care system.

Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs and improve patients’ and providers’ reported experiences of care.

“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 WHCHC has the tools, systems and resources to provide their patients with the right care at the right time.”

WHCHC met key program components including the following areas:

* Written standards for patient access and continuity of care

* Use of patient feedback materials

* Appropriate use of charting and data management tools to track patients and organize clinical information

* Adaptation to patient’s cultural and linguistic needs

* Use of evidence-based guidelines to treat chronic conditions

* Measurement and reporting of clinical and service performance

“With less than 10% of health centers nation-wide achieving level 3 recognition, this is a great accomplishment for WHCHC,” Executive Director Richard Taaffe said. “Our patient-centered health care team is very proud of this national recognition.”

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