SIOUX CITY | Siouxland Community Health Center (SCHC) has been named a Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home, the highest designation recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
SLCHC was the first community health center out of 14 in the state of Iowa to become certified as a patient-centered medical home and also the first to achieve the Level 3 designation.
The process involved submitting a 400-plus page document to prove that SCHC meets five important components.
"We're very, very proud of that because it is a difficult process," said Mari Kaptain-Dahlen, Siouxland Community Health Center CEO. "We really have been at the forefront among the community health centers of Iowa in achieving this."
A patient-centered medical home is a primary care model that delivers health care in very specified ways to patients who are the focus. Kaptain-Dahlen said the care is comprehensive, meaning the patient doesn't just have a provider, but a team supporting both patient and provider.
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"In our case, you also have a nutritionist, a pharmacist, a social worker and then a care manager that all work as part of that team in delivering that care," she said.
Patient-centered medical homes are measured on how well they reflect diversity in their care plans. Many of SCHC's patients come from diverse cultures. Taking into account the patient's values, language and cultural preferences, Kaptain-Dahlen said is important when developing a treatment plan in a patient-centered medical home. Staff, she said, have gone through cultural sensitivity training.
"If this is truly a medical home, (patients) need to feel that they're valued and that they're comfortable and we're comfortable with the perspective that they bring to us," she said.
For the patient-centered medical home designation, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) requires that care be coordinated. If a patient needs to be referred to a specialist or admitted to the hospital, SCHC makes those connections and follows up with the patient afterward.
"If it's a hospital admission we're required to see that patient within 72 hours after they're discharged," Kaptain-Dahlen said.
The NCQA's fourth requirement -- that care be accessible to the patient -- Kaptain-Dahlen said is one of the toughest. If a patient calls SCHC for an appointment, she said that patient has to be seen by a provider within 24 hours.
"That's a very strict measure that (patient-centered medical home) requires and we have to consistently meet that target at 95 to 100 percent," she said.
The NCQA's quality and safety requirements for patient-centered medical homes are just as stringent. For example, SCHC has to track how often they're performing foot exams and A1C tests on chronic diabetics.
"It can't be just at one point in time. We re-certify every three years, so when you re-certify you have to prove over the last three years you've done this consistently," Kaptain-Dahlen said. "I think in primary care it shows that you have achieved a level of delivering care and providing care to a patient that is top quality, that it's comprehensive, that it's coordinated and you're treating the whole person."
SCHC is also now accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). Previously, Kaptain-Dahlen said the health center was joint commission accredited.
She said SCHC made the changed to AAAHC because the accreditation is much more focused on out-patient and ambulatory services. She also noted that AAAHC has patient-centered medical home recognition built in for both medical and dental care.
"Our move to AAAHC was to really show that we operate as a patient-centered medical home for both medical patients and dental patients," she said. "We have to be able to prove that all of the services that we provide here are integrated."
Kaptain-Dahlen said the accreditation is a big achievement for SCHC staff, who had just six months to prepare. Usually, she said such a change is made over the course of 2 years.
"We actually completed the application and went through our survey process in about a fourth of the time that it takes everyone else," she said. "We were commended for our knowledge of the standards and our ability to meet and to comply with the standards."
