May 22, 2013 – The Portland InterHospital Physicians Association (Portland IPA),http://www.portlandipa.com/, Oregon’s largest physician group comprising more than 2,300 primary care and specialty physicians, has launched in Oregon the new recognition program for specialists who work with primary care medical home practices.
NCQA and the Portland IPA are partnering on the Patient-Centered Specialty Practice Recognition,http://www.ncqa.org/Programs/Recognition/PatientCenteredSpecialtyPracticeRecognition.aspx, program. The specialty component complements the Patient-Centered Medical Home primary care program the Portland IPA launched in 2010, also in partnership with NCQA. The Portland IPA was also the first organization to launch the NCQA’s medical home program in Oregon.
“This program connects specialty and primary care physicians in the medical neighborhood,” said Tom Gragnola, M.D., primary care physician with Greenfield Health and medical director of the Portland IPA.
"By helping specialists and their practices improve clinical efficiency and clinical management functions,they will demonstrate their readiness to integrate and coordinate care," said Portland IPA (http://www.portlandipa.com/) Executive Director Donna McClellan, R.N. She adds that the benefits for specialists successfully completing the new specialty program recognition include potentially higher reimbursement levels, visibility that the practices are ready for delivery/reimbursement models that focus on outcomes measurement, global budgeting and payment bundling.
The Portland IPA launched the new program with six specialty practices to demonstrate how this new model integrates specialists in the medical home philosophy. In this model, specialists can increase practice efficiency, integrate care via improved care coordination, create enhanced referral pathways, and work toward providing more efficient, quality medical care at the top of their practice.
In a program similar the primary care medical home, the NCQA Patient-Centered Specialty Practice Recognition program helps specialists become better partners in the care continuum in six standards,http://www.ncqa.org/PublicationsProducts/RecognitionProducts/PCSPProducts.aspx:
· Tracking and coordinating referrals
· Providing access and communications
· Identifying and coordinating patient populations
· Planning and managing care
· Tracking and coordinating care
· Measuring and improving performance.
The six Portland-area practices include Compass Oncology (http://www.compassoncology.com/), EyeHealth Northwest (http://www.ehnpc.com/), Northwest Renal Clinic (http://www.nwrc.com/), Providence Heart Clinic (http://oregon.providence.org/patients/programs/providence-heart-clinic-at-the-oregon-clinic-gateway/pages/default.aspx), The Liver Clinic/Portland Gastroenterology at The Oregon Clinic (http://www.orclinic.com/clinic/PortlandGastroenterology), and Women’s Healthcare Associates (http://www.whallc.com/).
“This recognition shows patients, payers and our primary care partners that we have rigorously reviewed our clinical capabilities and systems to be a smart partner with our primary care referring physicians who have implemented the medical home model,” said Angela Kalisiak, M.D., medical oncologist and director of palliative care with Compass Oncology, http://www.compassoncology.com/, one of the six pilot practices. “To effect better health care outcomes for patients, we physicians must work together among ourselves and with hospitalists, ancillary providers, caregivers and navigators in this new model of better coordinated care.”
"EyeHealth Northwest is pleased to be included in this NCQA pilot project, and we realize we already comply with many of the standards, but our policies, documentation and communication completion can always be improved,” said Robert Bentley, M.D., ophthalmologist and president of EyeHealth Northwest,http://www.ehnpc.com/, as well as chair of the board of Legacy Health. “Some elements will take a lot of work to attain but I'm enthusiastic that this will improve patient care and foster better care coordination between our office, primary care doctors and other specialists we work with. We were nervous about implementing these changes at first but we’ve gotten great help to guide us in assessing our readiness and deficiencies as we start the path to specialty recognition."
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About The Portland InterHospital Physicians Association
The Portland InterHospital Physicians Association (Portland IPA), is a for-profit corporation, incorporated in the State of Oregon. Portland IPA has been in existence since 1983, and is one of the largest and oldest independent practice associations in the United States. The Portland IPA contracts on behalf of more than 2,300 northern Oregon members, including primary care doctors, specialists and allied providers. The Portland IPA provides ember services and assistance that improves members’ clinical and economic performance.
