Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/334922
Tier HealthLink is pleased to have Dr. McCall join our Board of Directors. Her experience as Chief Medical Officer CNY and Southern Tier, Excellus, as well as her extensive knowledge of the healthcare profession, will provide an im - portant dimension to our work as we continue to build and improve our provider and patient interface plans." ST. JOSEPH'S PRIMARY CARE CENTER – WEST, PEDIATRIC SERVICES, RECEIVES LEVEL 3 MEDICAL HOME RECOGNITION St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center has an- nounced its Primary Care Center – West, Pediatric Services, has received level 3 recogni - tion from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Centered Medical Home 2011 program for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long-term participative relationships. The following clinicians are linked to this recognition: Beth Currado, NP; Joanne Lavigne, NP; Catherine Curry, MD; and Jose Vargas, MD. The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a model of care emphasizing care coordina - tion and communication to transform pri- mary care into "what patients want it to be." Research shows 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 healthcare needs and coordinate treatments across the health - care system. Medical home clinicians dem- onstrate 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 tech - nology and partnerships between clinicians and patients," says NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "PCMH recognition shows that St. Joseph's has the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care at the right time." To receive the recognition, which is valid for three years, St. Joseph's Primary Care Center – West, Pediatric Services, demonstrated the ability to meet the program's key elements embodying the characteristics of the medical home, including: + Written standards for patient access and enhanced communications + Use of patient feedback materials + Appropriate use of charting tools to track patients and organize clinical information + Responsive care management techniques with an emphasis on preventive care for individual patients and for the entire patient population + Adaptation to patient's cultural and linguistic needs + Use of information technology for prescrip - tions, test and referral tracking and coordi- nation with other healthcare providers + Use of evidence-based guidelines to treat chronic conditions + Measurement and reporting of clinical and service performance ■