October 2022 Newsletter

NeighborHealth Earns NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition

This month, NeighborHealth is incredibly proud to announce it has earned recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a patient-centered medical home (PCMH). This prestigious designation is awarded to those healthcare organizations that demonstrate a commitment to providing quality improvement within their practice and a patient-centered approach to care. Being a PCMH leads to greater patient and staff satisfaction, and contributes to lower healthcare costs.

What does it mean to be a patient-centered medical home?

Serving as a ‘medical home’ means providing patients with a team approach to whole-person-centered care. So, instead of simply caring for a patient one appointment at a time, NeighborHealth goes above and beyond to support each patients’ overall health by delivering care that is high-quality and well-coordinated. This could mean ensuring patients receive the preventive care and services they need (e.g. routine physical exams, cancer screenings, vaccinations) – or it could mean setting long-term goals to help patients manage any chronic or ongoing conditions they may have such as diabetes, high blood pressure or asthma.

The PCMH model also focuses on ensuring patients have access to comprehensive care – such as behavioral health, nutrition counseling, pharmacy services, etc. – basically anything they need to stay healthy and out of the hospital. As such, PCMHs contribute to better health outcomes and focus on building strong relationships between patients and their clinical care teams.

“NeighborHealth has always practiced whole healthcare by looking beyond just our patients’ immediate physical needs, and this recognition supports our unique patient care philosophy,” explains Doug Briggs, MD, Medical Director, NeighborHealth. “Our patients appreciate that we offer more than just traditional primary care. They know that we’re here to ensure their physical, emotional, spiritual needs are being met, and we even help address socioeconomic factors that could impact their ability to stay healthy. For us, that’s what being a patient-centered medical home is all about.”

Patient Benefits of The PCMH Model

According to NCQA, being a PCMH provides the following benefits for patients:

• Stay healthy. Patients who are treated in PCMHs tend to receive preventative services and screenings at a higher rate than patients not in PCMHs, helping keep them healthy.
• Better communication. A core concept of the PCMH model is to communicate with patients and their families/caregivers. The model emphasizes enhanced access so patients can get clinical advice or medical records when needed.
• Better manage chronic conditions. PCMHs are especially helpful for patients with complex chronic conditions. Research shows that these conditions are managed better in a medical home.
• Have a better experience. Patients appreciate the team-based approach to care that is offered by PCMH practices.

Achieving this designation has taken many months of dedicated effort from the NeighborHealth team on behalf of its patients. As part of our journey to PCMH designation, we have made many strides in enhancing the care and service we provide to our patients, including:

• Strengthened our quality, reporting, and monitoring capabilities to allow for ongoing quality improvement.
• Established morning huddles to enhance care team communication.
• Updated internal workflows to enhance our electronic medical record (EMR) performance, and our ability to communicate with patients via our patient portal (MyChart).
• Integrated patient satisfaction feedback into internal management processes.

“I am so incredibly proud of our team on this remarkable achievement,” explains Daniel Lipparelli, CEO, NeighborHealth. “Everything we’ve done to earn this designation supports NeighborHealth’s unique approach to caring for our patients and this community. This recognition is the direct result of the hard work of our providers and team, and it reinforces our mission of serving Christ through the delivery of excellent, compassionate and accessible healthcare.” 

The PCMH Model In Action at NeighborHealth

Here’s an example of how the PCMH model of care works at NeighborHealth – using a real patient experience.

A young mother is pregnant and needs prenatal care – NeighborHealth is there for her throughout the pregnancy up to her delivery.  Once the baby is born, the clinic offers comprehensive pediatric care for the new baby (including all required vaccinations), as well as post-partum care for the mother. We also coordinate any additional specialty care needed by either mom or baby and even help them with transportation, food, and other basic needs they may have.  The baby’s father can also receive care—whether it’s to manage chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma or diabetes – or just for routine wellness check-ups.

If needed, NeighborHealth can provide behavioral health services such as marital counseling for the couple as they navigate challenges and adjust to life as new parents. 

All along the way, NeighborHealth is focused on keeping the whole family healthy – both physically and mentally. This is the value of the Patient-Centered Medical Home model of care – and we are proud to provide this exceptional care for our patients. 

Our work relies heavily on the support of our generous community donors—and your gifts continue to make a huge difference in the lives of our patients.  As you consider your year-end giving, please know we need your partnership to ensure we can meet the growing healthcare needs of our community. This year a generous couple has offered to match dollar-for-dollar every gift up to $50,000, doubling the impact of your gift. 

Serving Christ by loving our neighbors through excellent, compassionate, and accessible health care.