Twelve different Penn Medicine Clinical Care Associate (CCA) practices received level III certification for efforts to provide coordinated, efficient care through the Patient Centered Medical Home program run by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). This Level III certification is the highest designation granted by the NCQA.
The Penn Medicine CCA practices include: Adolescent and Young Adult Associates, Chestnut Hill Family Medicine, Penn Medicine at Valley Forge (2nd fl.), Kennett Family Practice Associates at Kennett Medical Center, Penn Medicine at Limerick, West Chester Family Practice, Delancey Medical Associates and Executive Health, Internal Medicine at Mayfair, Penn Presbyterian Medical Associates at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Bala Cynwyd Medical Associates, PENNCare Medical Associates of Bucks County, and Internal Medicine Associates of Delaware County.
“Our CCA practices, providers and staff alike, deserve all the credit,” said Charles Orellana, MD, senior medical director, Clinical Care Associates. “This accomplishment speaks very highly of our practices’ commitment to improving patient care. The transformation the practices have gone through by optimizing their use of information technology to care for broad patient populations, assuring seamless coordination of care and enacting best practice workflows are all hallmarks of a true patient-centered medical home. Modernization of primary care in this very patient-centered approach is sure to lead to improved outcomes for our patients.”
The three-year designation comes from NCQA’s Physician Practice Connections—Patient-Centered Medical Home (PPC-PCMH) program, which uses evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long-term medical professional-patient participatory relationships. The PMCH program strives to improve quality and efficiency of primary care by recognizing practices that support strong partnerships between patients and their clinicians, rather than looking at patient care solely as a series of office visits.
Research has shown promising results in advancing quality of care and decreasing costs by expanding access to more efficient and coordinated care. In this model, clinician-led “medical home” teams deliver patient care and coordinate treatment across the health care system. The medical home clinicians at these Penn Medicine practices exhibit the “benchmarks of patient-centered care, including open scheduling, expanded hours, and appropriate use of proven health information systems,” according to the NCQA. In addition to improving the patient experience, this program helps avoid unneeded hospitalizations and emergency room visits, which can save money for payers, purchasers and patients.
For a complete list of primary care medical practices and clinicians receiving this NCQA honor, visit http://recognition.ncqa.org.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.