Content for this blog post was provided by Susan Maxsween, Director of RMS Healthcare – Practice Transformation, and her team – Karen Joncas, Healthcare Transformation Coordinator, and Al Tripodi, Healthcare Administrative Assistant.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has just announced incentives for early adoption of its Patient-Centered Specialty Practice Recognition.  For information about the program and the incentives, click here.

This specialty care recognition builds on the tremendous success of NCQA’s patient centered medical home recognition program, which, since its inception in 2006, has yielded more than 5,100 transformed primary care practices nationwide. Offering recognition to specialty care clinicians represents the next iteration to the patient centered medical home neighborhood concept, which seeks to extend patient centered care between and among all of a patient’s providers. This program and the early adopter incentive is a wonderful opportunity for patient centered medical home primary care providers to encourage their specialist colleagues to join them in the journey to transform the health care delivery model to one that is more patient centered.  RMS Healthcare, a firm specializing in PCMH consulting, often hears from our primary care provider clients that they are often presented with opportunities to enhance communication and collaboration with specialty care practices. Together, primary care and specialty care practices will now have a platform where this next level of patient centered quality care can truly be enhanced and brought to a heightened level of integrated care.

The new program will focus on similar concepts for specialty care practices that strive to successfully coordinate care with their primary care and other specialty care colleagues, provide timely access to care, improve communications with patients and measure performance and improve quality of care.  Eligibility will include any specialist that receives referrals from primary care providers and/or other non-primary care specialists that can demonstrate adherence to the required standard of care.

NCQA is inviting specialty care practices to take part in the success of the patient centered medical home movement through its Early Adopter process. Those specialists that commit by March 19, 2013, and agree to undergo a survey by December 31, 2013, will:

• Receive one free license to the Interactive Survey System Survey Tool
• Receive a 20 percent discount on the application fee for NCQA review and recognition
• Receive free registration to a two-part comprehensive webinar training for Early Adopters scheduled for April 30 and May 7, 2013
• Be acknowledged in an NCQA Press Release recognizing early adopters

RMS Healthcare can assist your practice in assessing readiness to adopt the standards and in administration of the survey. For more information on how we can help, please call Susan Maxsween at (315) 635-9802 or e-mail her at SusanM@rmsresults.com.

Standards for this program can be preordered from NCQA and are expected to be released at the end of March. For more information on the SPR program, click here.