Congratulations to Axis Community Health and Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, which both achieved Recognition this month as Patient-Centered Medial Homes through the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), for their Pleasanton and Union City sites, respectively. These health centers are the first in the Alameda Health Consortium/Community Health Center Network family to earn this major achievement!

 

NCQA PCMH Recognition means that these health centers have successfully demonstrated that they have adopted systems and practices that emphasize the needs and preferences of their patients, with special attention given to six Must Pass Elements:

• Access During Office Hours (1A)
• Use Data for Population Management (2D)
• Care Management (3C)
• Support Self-Care Process (4A)
• Track Referrals and Follow-Up (5B)
• Implement Continuous Quality Improvement (6C)

 

Click here to register 

 

As part of their Patient-Centered Health Home Initiative, the California Primary Care Association hosts monthly "Lunch & Learn" webinars on topics related to PCMH transformation and recognition. The series takes place on the third Thursday of each month from 12:15-1:15pm. Visit CPCA's registration calendar to register for future sessions. Note: you must sign up for a free registration account to sign up for CPCA webinars and other learning opportunities. 

 

The next Lunch & Learn session will take place on Thursday, November 21st at 12:15pm.

PCMH Project staff are available to assist AHC/CHCN health centers applying for NCQA PCMH Recognition. We can help you to:

• Clarify NCQA PCMH 2011 Standards and documentation requirements
• Review a selection of documents, including all Must Pass Elements, to verify they are sufficient and appropriately labeled
• Provide feedback on potential opportunities to improve your score before submission

Team-based care is one of the hallmarks of PCMH transformation. PCMH advocates promote effective care teams as an essential component of achieving the Triple Aim -- better health and better care at a lower cost. But not all teams are created equal. What are the features of high performing teams that make them so different from more traditional staffing models? According to Dr. Tom Bodenheimer and Rachel Willard, "team-building is not simply the delegation of tasks from the doctor to the team. Responsibilities, not simply tasks, are reallocated so that all team members contribute to the health of their patient panel. Team members are sharing the care."

Effective care teams have a number of distinctive features, including:

• Stable teams with consistent membership
• Communication
• Standing orders
• Training to build competence among support staff
• Clearly-defined workflows