Cleveland Clinic receives Primary Care Medical Home certification
The Cleveland Clinic is the first hospital in the United States to earn the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for Primary Care Medical Home certification by demonstrating compliance with the Joint Commission's national standards for health care quality and safety.The Wooster Family Health Center is one of the 29 locations certified.
The Cleveland Clinic underwent an on-site survey in September 2013. Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated the Clinic on how effectively primary care clinicians and interdisciplinary teams work in partnership with patients to provide comprehensive, coordinated and patient-centered care.
The Joint Commission's PCMH certification option for hospitals was launched in February 2013, and helps accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals ensure patients receive timely and appropriate treatment; increase patient satisfaction; improve patient outcomes; and reduce the overall costs to the health care system.
“Primary care medical homes represent a new approach for hospitals to emphasize their commitment to patient-centered care within their outpatient care service delivery sites,” said Mark G. Pelletier, chief operating officer, Division of Accreditation and Certification Operations for the Joint Commission. “By focusing on teamwork, care coordination, a population-based approach and increased access to primary care services, hospitals that achieve PCMH certification will have the framework in place that will assist them in their efforts to deliver the best care possible for their patients.”
Doctor David L. Longworth, chair of the Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic, said, “We are thrilled to be the first integrated health care delivery system in the country to receive this recognition. This certification recognizes our striving to be national leaders in population management and transformation of the care delivery model in the United States.”
As an outcome of this survey, 39 practices at 29 sites - involving 230 primary care physicians and advanced practice nurses - received PCMH certification. The PCMH certification option is designed for accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals that have outpatient care services that include the provision of primary care services offered by a primary care clinician.