All primary care throughout Gundersen Health System, including Pediatrics, Family Medicine and General Internal Medicine, has the highest level of Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) certification. This designation comes from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
"PCMH is a healthcare model that emphasizes care coordination and communication to transform primary care into what our patients want it to be. It's designed to assure our patients get quality primary care when and where they need and want it, in a manner sensitive to their cultural beliefs and in language they understand," shares Mary Kuffel, MD, Gundersen medical vice president, Operating Team 1 and Regional Systems.
"One of the intended benefits of the Medical Home is to foster greater engagement with patients," Dr. Kuffel adds. "We know that a patient's outcome improves as they get more engaged in their own care."
Gundersen is participating in this model of care because Patient-Centered Medical Homes are driving some of the most important reforms in healthcare delivery today. There's growing evidence that PCMHs lead to higher quality and lower costs by reducing hospital and emergency department visits, mitigating health disparities and improving patient outcomes.
According to Dr. Kuffel, "Gundersen has long followed Medical Home principles but this highest level of certification—the culmination of detailed reporting and much hard work across the organization—is proof to our patients that they are receiving the highest quality care and the confidence and trust they put in us is well founded."
Attributes of the primary care medical home including:
- Accountable for meeting each patient's care needs, including prevention and wellness, acute care and chronic care using a team of care providers
- Provide patient-centered healthcare that focuses on the whole person by:
- Respecting each patient's unique needs, culture, values and preferences
- Sharing decision making with patients and families
- Coordinate care, including specialty care, hospitals, home healthcare, and community services and supports
- Deliver accessible services with shorter waiting times for urgent needs, enhanced in-person hours, 24/7 telephone or electronic access to the care team
- Commitment to quality and quality improvement by:
- Engaging in performance measurement and improvement
- Measuring and responding to patient experiences and patient satisfaction
- Practicing population health activities
- Share quality and safety data and improvement activities