The NCQA is developing a medical home recognition program this year for specialty practices, according to an American Medical Association report. The program will be based on the neighborhood concept, which requires a specialty practice to coordinate care and follow up, much like the full model, the report says.
Practices would not have to provide the primary care or prevention outside their scope — they would instead be closely linked to primary care practices that would provide these services and act as the medical home.
The NCQA currently provides medical home recognition to nearly 4,000 practices, although specialty practices are in the minority — perhaps for good reason, the report says.
"Becoming a patient-centered medical home can be a pretty big shift for a practice," said Tricia Barrett, vice president of product development at the National Committee for Quality Assurance. "There may be a subset of patients who really do end up being fully managed in the specialty setting, but these situations are limited."
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Practices would not have to provide the primary care or prevention outside their scope — they would instead be closely linked to primary care practices that would provide these services and act as the medical home.
The NCQA currently provides medical home recognition to nearly 4,000 practices, although specialty practices are in the minority — perhaps for good reason, the report says.
"Becoming a patient-centered medical home can be a pretty big shift for a practice," said Tricia Barrett, vice president of product development at the National Committee for Quality Assurance. "There may be a subset of patients who really do end up being fully managed in the specialty setting, but these situations are limited."
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