The National Committee for Quality Assurance announced in March that it would be extending it’s medical home concepts beyond the realm of primary care with a new program: Patient-Centered Specialty Practice (PCSP).

This new program was created to compliment the existing Patient-Centered Medical Home department, which is one of the most widely-used medical home treatment models in the United States.

In this post, we’ll look at the details of this new program so you can better grasp what all it entails.
Patient-Centered Specialty Practice Recognition

Increased Access

This new program works with specialty practices who are interested in increasing access and care coordination for the medical home patients with which they share care delivery. Through collaborative partnerships, these home care patients will benefit from  a seamless continuum of care.

National Committee for Quality Assurance outlines the best-suited candidates for its program as such:

  • Establish agreements with primary care providers to share information and establish coordinated care management.
  • Provide timely access to healthcare and advice based on patient need.
  • Use a systematic approach to name and track patients while coordinating care.
  • Include the patient and family or caregiver (if appropriate).
  • Work with a delivery/reimbursement model centered on outcomes and reduced duplication.
  • Align with newly proposed delivery and payment models (e.g., accountable care organizations, episodes of care, bundled payments).

Ed Wagner, creator of the Chronic Care Model, said, “NCQA’s Patient-Centered Specialty Practice Recognition is an important step forward. I sincerely hope the specialty community embraces it, just as the primary care world has embraced the patient- centered medical home.”

Levels of Recognition

There are currently three different levels of recognition providers can achieve. A Level 1 practice meets the minimum score of 25 points (out of 100) and the program’s mandatory elements. Practices that earn more points can qualify for greater levels of recognition, allowing them to flourish in the PCSP program. More than 70 providers have already hopped on board as early adopters.

Why PCSP?

This core of this new program centers around reducing waste from poorly coordinated care and improving the overall patient experience for those who require specialty care. So how will this be accomplished? The program centers around the patient, and encourages communication between care providers and caretakers. When everyone is on the same page, there are less redundancies and better, higher-quality care is provided. For a full list of FAQs on the program, visit their website.

To see if your practice is eligible for enrollment, you must first attend a live, monthly webinar. This recognition can replace PPC recognition.

Promote it

One of the added benefits to achieving this NCQA recognition is the positive news you can share with your local media professionals and community as a whole. Any type of National Committee for Quality Assurance accreditation or recognition should be promoted on a regular basis as a stamp of approval from this vetted organization.