everywhere piccalilli: SwedishAmerican clinics receive quality recognition

Thursday, March 8, 2012

SwedishAmerican clinics receive quality recognition | The Rock ...

Staff Report

Four SwedishAmerican Medical Group clinics have received prestigious Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

NCQA?s Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is an innovative program for improving primary care. In a set of standards that describe clear and specific criteria, the program gives practices information about organizing care around patients, working in teams, and coordinating and tracking care over time.

The PCMH is a health care setting that facilitates partnerships between individual patients, their personal physicians, and when appropriate, the patient?s family.

Care is facilitated by registries, information technology, health information exchange and other means to assure patients get the indicated care when and where they need and want it in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.

The following four SwedishAmerican Medical Group clinics received Level 3 recognition (the highest recognition status obtainable):

? SwedishAmerican Medical Group ? Davis Junction Clinic, Davis Junction;

? SwedishAmerican Medical Group ? Five Points Clinic, Rockford;

? SwedishAmerican Medical Group ? Valley Clinic, Rockford; and

? SwedishAmerican Medical Group ? Woodside Clinic, Rockford.

From a maximum possible score of 100, 75 points are needed to receive Level 3 recognition. Each SwedishAmerican clinic received a score of 87.25. The recognition places these clinics and their respective providers among an elite group.

Approximately 15,000 primary care doctors practice in Illinois. NCQA has recognized 415 physicians and locations for any of their certifications. Of these, 256 are Level 3 PCMH, and 23 of them are SwedishAmerican Medical Group physicians.

?This is a prime example of how we are coordinating care, reaching out to patients and trying to get ahead of the curve, rather than being reactionary in health care,? said SwedishAmerican Medical Group President Dr. Thomas Schiller.

Moving forward, SwedishAmerican plans to apply for Level 3 status for all of its clinics and their providers.

SwedishAmerican is a not-for-profit, locally governed health care system, with headquarters in Rockford. The health system is composed of two hospitals, 30 clinics, a home health care agency, a foundation, and has an exclusive affiliation with UW Health in northern Illinois.

From the March 7-13, 2012, issue