What You Should Know:
– The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has initiated the Virtual Care Accreditation Pilot program, a significant step in developing a quality improvement framework for organizations offering care through telehealth or digital platforms.
– NCQA has selected 18 pilot organizations from a pool of over 100 applicants. These organizations are based in 12 states and Puerto Rico and represent various entities, including health plans, health systems, Federally Qualified Health Centers, patient-centered medical homes, and virtual-first/virtual-only organizations.
Virtual Care Accreditation Pilot Development & Focus Areas
The pilot organizations will provide valuable input to shape NCQA’s Virtual Care Accreditation program, the first of its kind, designed to highlight the quality of care delivered through virtual or hybrid modalities by diverse healthcare organizations. Early versions of the accreditation program will concentrate on primary care and urgent care. Future versions will expand to include opportunities for organizations to distinguish themselves in other virtual care areas, such as behavioral healthcare and acute, post-acute, or specialty care.
Early versions of the accreditation program will concentrate on primary care and urgent care. Future versions will expand to include opportunities for organizations to distinguish themselves in other virtual care areas, such as behavioral healthcare and acute, post-acute, or specialty care.
Virtual Care Pilot Organizations
The selected pilot organizations include health plans such as Aetna Better Health of Virginia and Blue Shield of California, health systems like ChristianaCare Health System, patient-centered medical homes including Union Health Center, Federally Qualified Health Centers like Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, and virtual-only entities such as CirrusMD, Curai, Everly Health, Firely Health, HubMD PC, MDLIVE, and Privia Virtual Health, LLC.
NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane emphasizes that as care delivery evolves, virtual care has become a new normal, requiring standardization and reliable quality assessment. The Virtual Care Accreditation aims to serve as a roadmap and foundation for safe, effective, and equitable virtual care.
