athenahealth a provider of cloud-based EHR services and mobile applications for medical groups and health systems has announced updates to its Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Accelerator Program. Awarded an outstanding 35.25 automatic credits and 45.5 practice support points by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), athenahealth ® streamlines providers’ pathway towards formal NCQA PCMH Recognition.
Practices using athenahealth’s EHR, athenaClinicals ®, and patient engagement service, athenaCommunicator, are now well positioned to achieve Level 3 recognition, with only 4.25 points of practice responsibility required to meet the 85 point threshold.
Acknowledged by the industry as an innovative primary care delivery model, the Patient-Centered Medical Home aims to replace episodic care with team-based, coordinated care. NCQA awards PCMH Recognition to providers who meet strenuous criteria for delivering continuous, comprehensive, accessible, and community-based care.
Beginning in 2018, recognized providers will be eligible for a five percent reimbursement bonus from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The PCMH Accelerator Program is one of many initiatives from athenahealth that combines cloud-based software with the work and support of service teams to help close the gap on revenue-impacting industry changes.
athenahealth supports and streamlines providers’ pathway to NCQA PCMH Recognition in the following ways:
– Automatic Credits – Users of both athenaClinicals and athenaCommunicator receive 35.25 pre-validated auto-credits from NCQA.
– Integrated Workflows and Reporting Tools – NCQA-approved practice support workflows totaling 45.5 points are integrated directly into athenaNet ®, easing the administrative burden and reporting requirements for practices applying for recognition. Workflows are informed by evidence-based clinical guidelines and quality management monitoring, as well as configuration, documentation, and reporting tools.
– Reduced Practice Responsibility – NCQA- approved workflows and auto-credits now total an outstanding 80.75 points, requiring only 4.25 points of practice responsibility to achieve Level 3 Recognition–the highest possible achievement.
