WESTBOROUGH, Mass.—April 21, 2010—eClinicalWorks®, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today announced that numerous customers across the country have been recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for achieving Physician Practice Connections®-Patient-Centered Medical HomeTM (PCMH) status, which is designed to coordinate care in a primary care setting. This coordination helps strengthen the physician-patient relationship, leading to better care delivered, more involved patients and reduced avoidable costs over time.
According to the NCQA Web site, PCMH "is a health care setting that facilitates partnerships between individual patients, and their personal physicians, and when appropriate, the patient’s family." A PCMH automates business and clinical processes, uses clinical decision support tools, and connects with patients and members of the health care team. There are three levels of recognition. Several eClinicalWorks' customers, including Dr. Salvatore Volpe, the Aquidneck Medical Associates and Ninth Street Medical Associates, have been recognized for achieving the highest level.
"The PCMH concept has great potential to improve the quality of care delivered in a primary care setting, while improving efficiencies," said Dr. Salvatore Volpe. "My practice immediately saw the benefits of this and became involved early on, allowing us to become the first solo physician practice in New York State to receive Level 3 PCMH recognition. We have always viewed our patients in the context of their family and community. PCMH helped solidify our role as the team leader across the full spectrum of care. With information technology, a solo practitioner can now be part of a virtual health care system."
"Transforming our practice into a PCMH has created a more efficient and effective health care environment," said Dr. David Gorelick of Aquidneck Medical Associates, the first practice in Rhode Island to receive Level 3 recognition. "The NCQA PCMH program required our practice to analyze and structure each aspect of patient interaction and care, providing an improved experience for the patient and health care team alike."
"The Chronic Care Initiative developed by the Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform started us on the path to transforming our practice into a Level 3 PCMH," said Marjorie Miller, director of policy and planning, Ninth Street Internal Medicine in Philadelphia. "Clearly, the PCMH model and the team approach help us to use staff and resources effectively to meet the needs of our patients. Improvements in patient engagement and outcomes as well as staff and physician satisfaction have been enormous.&quo;t
eClinicalWorks emphasizes preventative care and supports the medical home model of healthcare through features including clinical decision support, order sets and registry reporting. The system also enables providers to capture demographics, manage incoming and outgoing referrals, e-prescribe, order and receive labs and diagnostic imaging studies, communicate directly with patients, compile a comprehensive electronic medical record that spans the continuum of healthcare services for every patient, and participate in local, regional and state-wide health information exchanges.
"PCMH is an ambitious initiative that holds promise in improving patient care through communication and by focusing on preventative care," said Girish Kumar Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks. "With features including real-time clinical decision support and registry reporting, eClinicalWorks provides solutions that elevate the role of an EMR from passively collecting information to actively helping providers give the best medical care possible. We work closely with our customers to ensure they have the tools needed for programs such as this and congratulate each of them on this achievement."
To learn more about PCMH and NCQA, visit www.ncqa.org.
