New Patient-Centered Program Launched for New York Primary Care Practices

WASHINGTON, DC, April 03, 2018 -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), creator of the nation’s leading patient-centered medical home (PCMH) program, collaborated with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to customize an exclusive transformation program for New York state practices. The NYS Patient-Centered Medical Home (NYS PCMH) supports the state’s initiative to advance primary care and promote the Triple Aim: better health, lower costs and better patient experience.

“This paves the way for states to build upon the NCQA PCMH Recognition Program to align with the unique health goals in their state. New York identified specific criteria relevant to their goals--behavioral health integration, more rigorous care coordination and value-based payment arrangements--and worked with us to include them in the program,” said Frank Micciche, Vice President of Public Policy at NCQA. “This shows how states can leverage existing strong, evidence-based programs to meet state needs for better care and stronger patient engagement.”

The NYS PCMH program coordinates multiple transformation programs in the state by moving primary care practices toward an exclusive model to improve care, reduce health care costs and strengthen value-based contracting.

“Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, New York state continues to make game-changing healthcare reforms that improve care and reduce costs through a value-based payment model,” said New York State Department of Health Commissioner Howard A. Zucker, MD, JD. “The New York State Patient-Centered Medial Home will improve consistency in certification over multiple transformation programs currently being phased in across the state for primary care providers.”

Practices that participate in NYS PCMH transformation may be eligible to receive supplemental payments through state programs such as the Medicaid PCMH Incentive Program.  In addition, NYSDOH is engaged regionally with commercial payers to implement voluntary, multi-payer value-based payment arrangements to support practices that have not had these opportunities through previous transformation efforts.  Many of these models and eligibility to participate will depend on practices achieving the NYS PCMH recognition.

This program transforms patient care and is offered to eligible primary care practices in New York state with initial recognition fees sponsored by New York state. In addition, one-on-one technical support through contracted transformation assistance vendors is available at no cost to participating practices (for a limited time based on the availability of funding).

The PCMH model emphasizes care coordination, population health, evidence-based guidelines and effective use of health information technology to meet the patient’s needs. Almost 15,000 practice sites – with more than 70,000 clinicians – are recognized by NCQA nationwide.  

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About NCQA

NCQA is a private, nonprofit 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 website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more-informed health care choices. NCQA can be found online at ncqa.org, on Twitter @ncqa, on Facebook at facebook.com/NCQA.org/ and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa.

Cindy Pena
Sr. Communications Manager
NCQA
Phone: (202) 735-3690
E-Mail: [email protected]