HOUSTON, Oct. 23, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has designated Memorial Hermann's Memorial Family Medicine Residency and its medical office, the Physicians at Sugar Creek, as a Recognized Medical Home. They are the only residency program and medical practice in Texas to receive this designation.
The NCQA's Medical Home Recognition Program identifies medical facilities that deliver superior care using measurable standards. The official designation is given to those facilities that provide the elements of a "medical home."
A medical home promotes and personalizes the patient/doctor relationship. The NCQA evaluates medical facilities based on nine identifiable standards of care, including promoting patient self management and tracking clinical performance. Based on the medical facility's score, NCQA may designate one of three levels of recognition.
The NCQA developed the criteria for the recognition program in conjunction with the AAFP, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and the American Osteopathic Association. NCQA Executive Vice President Greg Pawlson, MD, MPH, described the criteria as a "roadmap for practices to follow." Program criteria are based on a series of requirements, including patient registries, care management programs, electronic prescribing and follow-ups on tests, among other measures.
"The award is given to those practices that can show that they provide the elements of a medical home that result in outstanding care," said Dr. David Bauer, Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program Director. "Our utilization of electronic health records, implementation of secure messaging, and chronic disease management were just some of the components that captured the attention of the judges and influenced our overall score."
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. It is a leader in developing health care evaluation tools, including health plan accreditation, physician recognition and organization certification. Visit www.ncqa.org for more information.
About the Memorial Hermann System
An integrated health system, Memorial Hermann is known for world-class clinical expertise, patient-centered care, leading edge technology, and innovation. The system, with its exceptional medical staff and 19,000 employees, serves southeast Texas and the greater Houston community. Memorial Hermann's 11 hospitals include three hospitals in the Texas Medical Center and eight suburban hospitals. The system also operates comprehensive cancer centers, the LifeFlight air ambulance program, the area's only burn treatment center, numerous imaging, sports medicine and rehabilitation, surgery centers, a Wellness Center, a chemical dependency treatment center, a home health agency, a retirement community and a nursing home. To learn more, visit www.memorialhermann.org or call 713.222.CARE.
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