ICFH Pediatric Health Center Earns National Recognition for Patient-Centered Care

Patient-Centered Medical Home^TM 2011 standards emphasize enhanced care through patient-clinician partnership

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) today announced that Institute for Child & Family Health (ICFH) Pediatric Health Care Center has received Recognition from the Patient-Centered Medical Home 2011 (PCMH 2011) program for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term participative relationships.

“This recognition demonstrates our commitment to providing quality, personalized care to our patients.”

"ICFH Pediatrics continually strives to achieve excellence for the children and families we serve,” said Juan C Gonzalez, Ph.D., CEO of ICFH. “This recognition demonstrates our commitment to providing quality, personalized care to our patients.”

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 improve patients’ and providers’ reported experiences of care. The PCMH identifies practices that promote partnerships between individual patients and their personal clinicians, instead of treating patient care as the sum of several episodic office visits. Each patient’s care is tended to by clinician-led care teams, who provide for all the patient’s health care needs and coordinate treatments across the health care 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 HCN ICFH 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, HCN ICFH demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key elements embodying characteristics of the medical home. The standards are aligned 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.

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.

About ICFH

The Institute for Child and Family Health (ICFH) is a private, not-for-profit organization that has been providing health, behavioral health, educational and prevention services to the children, adolescents and families of Miami-Dade County for over 60 years. It is one of the oldest and largest community health centers exclusively dedicated to the well being of children and families in the state of Florida. ICFH serves over 40,000 children, adolescents, and families per year. For more information about ICFH, visit www.icfhinc.org. Become a fan on Facebook or Twitter to receive updates.