The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) today announced that the Neighborhood Family Practice (NFP) Ridge Community Health Center (3569 Ridge Rd.) and Detroit Shoreway Community Health Center (6412 Franklin Blvd.) have received NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition for using evidence-based,patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term, participative relationships.

The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, improve patients’ experience of care and reduce costs. Medical homes foster ongoing partnerships between patients and their personal clinicians, instead of approaching care as the sum of episodic office visits. Each patient’s care is overseen by clinician-led care teams that coordinate treatment across the health care system. Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and can improve patient and provider reported experiences of care.

“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 NFP’s Ridge and Detroit Shoreway Community Health Centers have the tools, systems and resources to provide their patients with the right care, at the right time.”

To earn recognition, which is valid for three years, the NFP Ridge and Detroit Shoreway Community Health Centers demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home. NCQA standards aligned with the joint principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home established with the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians,the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Osteopathic Association.

“This recognition from NCQA is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the physicians, nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives who provide high quality health care services to patients at our Ridge and Detroit Shoreway Community Health Center locations,” says Jean Polster, RN, MS, NFP’s president and CEO. “Their teamwork and focus on doing what is best for patients is key to helping us fulfill our mission of partnering with the community.