The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is seeking public comments on its proposed Specialty Practice Recognition, which would complement its Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition program for primary care providers and its accreditation standards for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Comments must be submitted through the NCQA website by this Friday, July 6, 2012.
According to NCQA, “the goal of this program is to enhance collaboration and coordination between primary care and specialty care and to support patient access to specialty care. The intent is to create a set of standards that apply to a range of adult and pediatric specialty practices with a variety of patient relationships.” The proposed Specialty Practice Recognition standards parallel the standards for NCQA PCMH recognition and NCQA ACO accreditation. The proposed standards focus on coordinating care while maintaining alignment with the principles of primary care:
1. Provide Access and Communication
2. Identify and Coordinate Patient Populations
3. Implement Referral Coordination
4. Plan and ManageCare
5. Track and Coordinate Care
6. Measure and Improve Performance
NCQA also intends to embed the final Stage 2 requirements for meaningful use of certified electronic health records into these recognition standards.
Ignatius Bau 