Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH)

Praxis EMR is built to help doctors practice and document the highest quality medicine without losing their focus on what truly matters: the patient. This is why Praxis EMR, more than any other Electronic Health Records system, prepares doctors to implement the care model of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH).

Praxis users like Dr. Jeremy Bradley, winner of the 2012 HIMSS Davies Award, have been at the forefront of implementing the PCMH approach in their clinics.

New: PCMH is being extended to specialists!

The NCQA launched a new program on March 25, 2013 that applies PCMH recognition to specialty practices. The new program, called Patient-Centered Specialty Practice (PCSP), offers recognition to specialty practices that demonstrate a commitment to care coordination and other patient-centered metrics.

The NCQA is seeking Early Adopters to begin this new program. Click here to learn more.

What is PCMH?

Patient-centered medical care is a dynamic, team-based approach to medical care that allows patients to be more involved in their healthcare decisions.

According to the ACP, “The PCMH practice is responsible for providing for all of a patient’s health care needs or appropriately arranging care with other qualified professionals. It is a model of practice in which a team of health professionals, coordinated by a personal physician, works collaboratively to provide high levels of care, access and communication, care coordination and integration, and care quality and safety.”

In other words, PCMH treats each patient as a whole person and integrates care to facilitate transitions from one center of care to another.

The PCMH model of care is recognized and measured by an number of different organizations, all of whom have their own criteria and reporting guidelines based around the PCMH Joint Principles listed below.

Why should I pursue PCMH recognition?

There is a growing understanding that the PCMH model improves quality of care, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes, and also lowers overall healthcare cost by promoting health maintenance and preventative medicine. When successful, PCMH care supports the health of an entire community in the most comprehensive and cost-effective way possible.

PCMH status has become an important factor for patients seeking high quality, patient-focused care. PCMH recognition can also improve your revenues and reduce insurance premiums. Most importantly, the PCMH model helps you practice medicine as an art, just as Praxis does.

Other benefits of PCMH recognition include:

• National recognition
• The potential for increased reimbursement
• Lower insurance premiums
• Increased market competitiveness
• Quality guidelines that parallel those of Meaningful Use
• Laying groundwork for other quality-based initiatives

Praxis and PCMH

Because it is completely customizable and fully integrated, Praxis is perfectly suited to patient-centered medical care. The PCMH philosophy sees each patient as a whole person, rather than a series of symptoms and checklists - just as Praxis does! Only Praxis is template free, allowing practitioners to create quality guidelines that are unique to their practice, while integrating with all other systems and health care providers. This flexibility and patient focus is at the heart of the PCMH philosophy.

The Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home were established by the AAFP, the ACP, the AAP, and the AOA in 2007, and have since been endorsed by over 19 other organizations. Praxis helps you achieve these principles in your practice:

• Ongoing relationship with a personal physician: Because Praxis physicians finish 100% of their charting while in the exam room, they have more time to engage directly with patients.
• Physician-directed medical practice: Praxis users have complete control over all quality measures and population management tools. With Praxis, you can built and customize clinical practice guidelines in seconds. Your Praxis system truly reflects your way of practicing medicine.
• Whole-person orientation: Because Praxis is template-free, your patients are far more than a series of check-boxes or picklists. Praxis lets you tell a patient's story in your own words, ensuring that the patient's complete history is captured in all its complexity. Praxis lets you build practice advisories based on these histories, as well as alerts that automatically trigger to boost medical quality. Further, with Praxis clinical practice guidelines, your patients are part of a population management approach that coordinates care for your entire patient base.
• Care is coordinated and/or integrated: Praxis integrates seamlessly with pharmacies, hospitals, immunization registries, and other health providers. In addition, Praxis helps you achieve effortless coordination among providers within your practice.
• Quality and safety: The alerts, agents, and practice guidelines in Praxis are consistent, accurate, and fully customizable. Praxis practice guidelines will bring you medical accuracy up to 100%.
• Enhanced access to care: Praxis interfaces with all other clinical institutions, increasing access to care and facilitating a seamless transition of care when a patient moves from one facility to another.
• Payment appropriately recognizes the added value: Praxis captures all of the unique details of every case, allowing you to achieve the appropriate coding every time. Our built-in PraxCoder appropriately incorporates all preventative measures and strategies, as well as direct interventions for chronic disease management, to ensure that you are reimbursed for providing better quality care.

How do I apply for PCMH recognition?

There are a number of organizations and states that offer PCMH certification (including the NCQA) and each has its own requirements and application process. Before you proceed, be sure to read further about the PCMH philosophy and make sure it is a good fit for your practice. The US Department of Health and Human Services has a helpful resource page to help you begin thinking about and preparing to implement PCMH approaches in your clinic, and the Urban Institute's Health Policy Center published a 2012 study comparing different PCMH qualification surveys.

We at Praxis Electronic Medical Records are passionate about helping doctors practice the highest quality medicine, and about helping healthcare providers receive the recognition they deserve. The Praxis team is happy to support you as you prepare and apply for PCMH recognition: we can assist you in building, implementing, and querying the appropriate practice guidelines. Please contact our Support team with any questions.