Guidance from a coalition of primary care organizations aims to bring cohesion to the multitude of recognition programs that are springing up to accredit patient-centered medical homes.
The American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, and the American Osteopathic Association released the guidelines, which outline the 13 elements that they consider "essential" to an effective medical home recognition program. For example, the guidelines state that all recognition programs should incorporate the 2007 joint principles for a patient-centered medical home issued by the coalition.
Dr. Roland Goertz
Recognition programs also should address the complete scope of primary care services, align standards with the new federal meaningful-use requirements for electronic health records, and acknowledge care coordination in a "medical neighborhood," the guidelines state.
The groups also called on recognition programs to be transparent in their structure and scoring, to apply reasonable documentation and data collection requirements, and to conduct evaluations of the program’s effectiveness.
"If we are to know the value of a patient-centered medical home’s accreditation, we need to be assured the accrediting program itself has met appropriate standards," Dr. Roland Goertz, AAFP president, said in a statement.
"The consideration of these joint guidelines for [patient-centered medical home] recognition programs will help ensure that recognized practices truly provide patient-centered care that is effectively integrated and of high quality," Dr. J. Fred Ralston Jr., ACP president, said in the same statement.
Dr. J. Fred Ralston Jr.
The guidelines will help to provide consistency among the various accreditation and recognition programs, according to the coalition. That’s important, they noted, because physicians may need to comply with more than one recognition program. Standardization of programs also will help researchers who are studying the impact of the medical home.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, and URAC (formerly the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission) already have recognition or accreditation programs related to the medical home. The Joint Commission is slated to launch its own program later this year. In addition, some private and public payers may develop their own recognition programs.
The interest of these large, established organizations in the medical home is encouraging, according to AAP President O. Marion Burton, because it shows that the concept is one that is here to stay. "It does, to some extent, give us some reassurance and validation," he said in an interview.