LifeStyle Medical Center Earns National Recognition for Patient-Centered Care
Durham, NC (PRWEB) July 28, 2015 -- LifeStyle Medical Center announced today that the practice has received Level III Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). This accolade is given to clinics and practices to acknowledge the use of evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on coordinated care and long-term, participative relationships.
“We’re excited and proud to be recognized in this way,” says Kim Boggs, PA-C at LifeStyle Medical Center. “As a practice that emphasizes evidence-based, individualized care of patients and disease-specific interventions, this indicates that the NCQA has full confidence in our ability to meet its requirements.”
The recognition is valid for a period of three years, and is based on standards aligned with joint principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home, a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, to improve patients’ experience of care and to reduce costs.
The Medical Home concept was established with the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Osteopathic Association. This model fosters ongoing partnerships between patients and their personal clinicians, instead of approaching care as the sum of episodic office visits. Each patient’s care is overseen by clinician-led care teams that coordinate treatment across the health care system.
“Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and can improve both patient- and provider-reported experiences of care,” says Boggs. “Our aim is to offer patients evidence-based, intensive lifestyle intervention and nutrition counseling in an outpatient clinical setting. Through chronic disease education, accountability, motivation and support, we help our patients treat and prevent chronic medical conditions with weight management and healthy lifestyle modifications.”
NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane agrees. “NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition raises the bar in defining high quality care by emphasizing access, health information technology and coordinated care focused on patients,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Recognition shows that LifeStyle Medical Center has the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care, at the right time.”
About LifeStyle Medical Center
Lifestyle Medical Center (LMC) is a unique health care clinic based in Durham, NC that provides specialized preventive health care and weight management services. Clinicians, registered dietitians, and PhD level clinical outcomes investigators work in multi-disciplinary care teams to offer highly personalized, comprehensive lifestyle modification and medical nutrition therapy services. The clinic offers a positive and supportive patient experience, with extended hours, a convenient location, and use of technological tools such as activity trackers, phone apps, and wireless scales to monitor and improve patients’ long-term health.
About NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA’s Web site (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.
Jenni Grover, Lifestyle Medical Centers, http://lifestylemedicalcenters.com, +1 (919) 354-7077, [email protected]
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