Dear Parent,
At Village Pediatrics, our practice was founded on the concept of a MEDICAL HOME. Nationally, many organizations and managed care institutions [such as BCBS] have begun to formally define the principles attributed to a medical home and to recognize the added value to patient care that is realized when these principles are adopted. Guidelines have been developed to help measure attainment of these ideals. A team here at Village Pediatrics has been hard at work for the last few months reviewing current best practice models and guidelines and defining areas where we can improve! We have collaborated with our Village Peds colleagues to build a framework for patient care visits that will enhance the care you receive as a patient in our practice. As part of this process, we are applying to the National Committee for Quality Assurance [NCQA] for Patient-Centered Medical Home recognition.
What does all this mean to you and your family?
1. A personal primary care physician:
This means that whenever possible we will schedule your appointments with the doctor identified by you as your child’s “primary care provider”
2. Enhanced access to care:
This means that your care providers are available when you need us through systems such as open scheduling, expanded hours and new options for communication between patients, their personal physician, and practice staff.
3. Quality and safety are hallmarks of the medical home:
Practices advocate for their patients to achieve optimal, healthy outcomes. These are defined by a care planning process driven by a partnership between physician led care teams, patients, and the patient’s family.
- Evidence-based medicine and clinical decision-support tools to guide medical decision making.
- Physicians embrace continuous quality improvement through voluntary engagement in performance measurement and improvement.
- Patients actively participate in decision-making, and feedback is sought to ensure patients’ and family’s expectations are being met.
- Information technology is utilized appropriately to support optimal patient care, performance measurement, patient education, and enhanced communication.
- Practices go through a voluntary recognition process by an appropriate non-governmental entity [such as NCQA] to demonstrate that they have the capabilities to provide patient centered services consistent with the medical home model.
We have initiated several Quality Improvement Projects including:
- Structured Care Plan visits for children 12yo and up with a diagnosis of ADHD and treated with stimulant medications. This cohort is at risk for many complications related to poorly treated ADHD such as school failure or dropout, substance use/abuse, sexual promiscuity, delinquency, and accidental injury. At these visits we will spend time listening to your concerns, sharing the latest patient education materials, checking blood pressure and weight, then collaborating with parents and kids to define specific goals and target areas where improvement can be achieved.
- Structured Care Plan visits for children 4yo and up with Body Mass Index [BMI] over 95 %ile. These children are at high lifetime risk for complications from obesity such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Our care teams will work with your family to provide all necessary resources to help your child overcome this serious health condition.
- Structured Care Plan visits for children with developmental delays or other special needs. These children need access to ancillary therapies and require a great deal of coordination of care. It is important to follow them closely so that adequate progress is made and optimal outcomes are achieved.
- Well child care is an essential component of the Pediatric Medical Home.
- We have initiated a Quality Improvement project at the 12-month WCC to increase the percentage of patients who receive the Varicella vaccine at this visit. This important vaccine prevents chicken pox illness and therefore prevents shingles as well! Currently, we immunize approx 62 % with this vaccine at the 12-month WCC but our goal is > 90%! We will be offering education regarding this at the 9 month and the12 month visit and hope to see our percentages increase over the next few months.
- Autism incidence is increasing and now 1 in 88 children may be affected by this disorder. Early diagnosis and prompt therapies result in excellent outcomes and many of these children are indistinguishable from their peers.AmericanAcademy recommends screening through the use of a validated survey tool such as the M-CHAT at the 18-month WCC and the 24 mo WCC. Currently, approx 55 % of our 18-month-old patients have this screening at their well child check but our goal is 100%. We are developing electronic prompts in our electronic medical record system to assure that this important screening is performed!
To learn more about Patient Centered Medical Home certification check out this website:
https://www.ncqa.org/Programs/Recognition/PatientCenteredMedicalHomePCMH.aspx
See our website and our Facebook page to monitor our progress and suggest other areas that will benefit from a quality improvement project!
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT MEASURES
Village Pediatrics is constantly striving to measure our standards with a goal to improve our performance.
Click on the PDF, to see the charts.