The Medical Home Initiative is now in its fifth year, supporting seven safety net clinics working to adopt patient-centered medical home standards.
The Medical Home Initiative began with four clinics in 2007 and currently involves seven clinics working to implement medical home standards as defined by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA standards encompass nine areas that together address access to care, quality and safety, and patient engagement in their care.
A technical assistance team from Qualis Health provides training, tailored technical assistance and a learning collaborative to support the clinics’ quality improvement activities. With technical assistance support, participating safety net clinics have reviewed their technology capacity, including utilization of practice management systems; examined how they handle appointment scheduling and patient flow; worked on procedures for data tracking and reporting; and initiated efforts to establish care teams, set quality improvement goals and quality measures.
Results
To date, five clinics have earned NCQA Level III Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) designation: Silver City Health Center, a division of KU HealthPartners, Inc., a nonprofit clinical enterprise operated by the University of Kansas Schools of Allied Health and Nursing; Cabot Westside Health and Dental Center, part of St. Luke’s Health System; Children’s Mercy West-The Cordell Meeks Jr. Clinic in Kansas City, Kansas, Health Partnership Clinic of Johnson County, and Turner House Children’s Clinic, a pediatric safety net clinic in Kansas City, Kansas.
In 2011, the focus of the initiative was on nurse leadership and medical assistants; in 2012, coaching and workshops focused on the role of clinic leadership and medical directors in transforming practices. For 2013, participating clinics will explore integration of oral health services with primary care.
Download a Medical Home Initiative overview.
Read a blog post (published April 10, 2012) on the REACH Foundation’s experience in supporting the initiative.
Participating Organizations
For more information on the initiative, contact Dawn Downes, Program Officer, at dawn@reachhealth.org.
Resources, Reports on Patient-Centered Medical Home
