By: Susan Bennett
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has announced that Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida has once again received NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term, participative relationships.
Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida has been recognized as a Patient-Centered Medical Home continuously since 2013. The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, improve patients’ experience of care and reduce costs. Medical homes foster ongoing partnerships between patients and their personal clinicians, instead of approaching care as the sum of episodic office visits. Each patient’s care is overseen by clinician-led care teams that coordinate treatment across the health care system. Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs and can improve patient and provider reported experiences of care.
“NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition raises the bar in defining high-quality care by emphasizing access, health information technology, and coordinated care focused on patients,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Recognition shows that Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida has the tools, systems, and resources to provide its patients with the right care, at the right time.”
“Our goal is to provide patient-centric care to our patients. Attaining certification as a patient-centered medical home is a natural extension of this. We operate our practice to provide each patient access to their physicians, medical records, preventative care, and routine health maintenance,” said Dr. Mary Yankaskas, managing physician of Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida. “We have empowered all of the members of our team to advocate for our patients to improve their health and provide a better, more caring environment.”
To earn recognition, Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home. NCQA standards aligned with the joint principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home established with the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Osteopathic Association.
ABOUT PHYSICIANS’ PRIMARY CARE OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Physicians’ Primary Care of Southwest Florida, a physician-owned and operated medical practice, is celebrating its 25th anniversary of caring for Southwest Florida families. The practice was formed in 1996 by many local physicians and has grown to become the largest physician-owned primary care practice in Southwest Florida. Medical specialties include internal medicine, family practice, and pediatrics. Offices are conveniently located in Lehigh Acres, Fort Myers, and Cape Coral. For more information, visit www.ppcswfl.com.
ABOUT NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA’s Web site (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.
