Redesigning Access to Care
There is little question that the country’s healthcare system is undergoing significant changes. Designing healthcare around the needs of the patient and family or using a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model, is at the core of any primary care redesign. Without it, any other recommendations may not be sustainable. Also crucial to the success of redesigned access to care is a partnership with the community and the pivotal role the health system plays in linking and integrating health and wellness within the community it serves.
Improving access to care is especially important to healthcare systems in underserved areas, which are often beleaguered by a lower quality of patient care, poorer retention of healthcare professionals, and a tendency for patients to accrue unnecessary medical costs by seeking “emergency room care” instead of preempting health problems with regular visits to the doctor.
The evidence clearly demonstrates the benefits of PCMH, including higher quality care, improved patient and provider experience, better prevention and management of disease, and a reduction in the overall costs of healthcare.
The Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC ) has helped more than 760 primary care practices across the country, including community health centers, hospital clinics, private practices, and specialty practices achieve PCMH recognition. Our expert team delivers support and training to help care providers build capacity and measure and improve outcomes with a variety of coaching options:
One-to-One Coaching (New York State PCMH Program & Outside of New York State)
Our team will coordinate weekly or bi-weekly coaching sessions and technical assistance to guide your practice through the NYS PCMH transformation process from start to finish. Also included is on-site and/or virtual needs assessment; development of an individualized work plan including a plan for Q-PASS NYS PCMH virtual check-ins; live consulting phone/video conferences; documentation review; preparation for and/or participation in NYS PCMH live virtual check-ins.
One-to-One Coaching for School-Based Health Centers
Weekly or bi-weekly one-to-one coaching and technical assistance is designed to guide your practice through the PCMH Process for the School-Based Medical Home (SBMH) Recognition Program from start to finish. In 2018, NCQA launched the SBMH Recognition program. School-based health centers seeking recognition must demonstrate they meet NCQA PCMH requirements and complete a school-based health center subset of requirements.
PCDC is now providing no-cost technical assistance to eligible practices as part of the New York State Patient-Centered Medical Home (NYS PCMH) Recognition Program, a new state initiative to advance primary care through the medical home model and promote the Triple Aim: better health, lower costs, and better patient experience. The program is a collaboration between the NCQA and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH).
As an NYSDOH-contracted transformation assistance vendor, PCDC offers step-by-step assistance for practices participating in NYS PCMH, helping them manage the transformation process and improve the patient experience. The technical support is available for a limited time based on availability of funding. Participating practices may also be eligible to receive supplemental payments through State programs such as the Medicaid PCMH Incentive Program.
We also work with the major PCMH accrediting bodies, including the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC).
The framework to redesign access to care should be viewed in the context of a continuum of care, with the patient and family always at the center of every discussion and decision, with key roles and responsibilities of primary care providers at each touchpoint in the continuum.
Join the growing number of practices PCDC has helped attain PCMH certification, or learn more about our programs that build healthy, thriving communities through community investments, capacity-building, and policy initiatives.
