The Barton Community Health Center and Barton Primary Care have received the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition for the physician and staff’s commitment to continuous quality improvement and patient-centered approach to care.

The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a medical model that takes a team approach to patient care and includes the patient, specialists, and the primary care team when developing a care plan. It is not a physical place, but a proactive, evidence-based approach where the primary care provider supports the patient in getting the expertise and specialized care they need.

“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 Barton Community Health Center and Barton Primary Care have the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care, at the right time.”

By adapting the PCMH approach to care, medical visits are no longer a series of ongoing office visits. Instead, primary care providers collaborate with clinical specialists and use information technology to improve the communication of care and identify medical conditions before they escalate. Research shows that using the medical home model improves the care experience and patients’ access to services while reducing the number of medical appointments and lowering overall costs.

“This recognition reflects the importance of using a team approach to address a patient’s health needs,” explains Dr. Paul Rork, Medical Director of Outpatient Quality. “By evaluating the patient as a whole person, a patient’s care team can proactively guide that patient and involve them in getting the care and support they need.”

Communication tools such as MyChart, allowing patients to communicate electronically with their providers, access medical history, and view test and lab results, strengthen the patient-centered medical home model. As well, patient access has been enhanced through an afterhours advice line and weekend appointments available for patients within Barton’s primary care system.

Barton Health will be seeking Patient Centered Medical Home certification at Barton Family Medicine in 2021 as well as embarking on the journey to certify specialty clinics to create a care continuum across Barton Health.

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About Barton Health
Barton Health is a nonprofit health system that provides high quality, compassionate care to Lake Tahoe residents and the area’s visitors. Since it opened in 1963, Barton Memorial Hospital has expanded its health and wellness services into a coordinated network of outpatient medical facilities, including a certified Level III Trauma Center, Urgent Care, family practice, ENT, general surgery, gastroenterology, gynecology, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics, otolaryngology, orthopedics, pediatrics, psychiatry, rheumatology, sleep studies, spine care, and urology. The Barton Center for Orthopedics & Wellness is a nationally recognized U.S. Ski Center of Excellence, providing integrated care from orthopedic and sports medicine experts and wellness services to help patients achieve their health goals. For more information, visit bartonhealth.org.

About NCQA
NCQA is a private, nonprofit 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 website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more-informed health care choices. NCQA can be found online at ncqa.org, on Twitter @ncqa, on Facebook at facebook.com/NCQA.org/ and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa.