UCF REC provides valuable PCMH services
Finding a structured, sustainable process; understanding quality measurements; and lacking resource availability—financial, staffing, technology – are major barriers to independent practices seeking to pursue medical home designation.
That’s why the UCF Regional Extension Center launched its Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition and transformation support services last fall.
“The PCMH model has the potential to change how we think of primary care,” said Josue Rodas, executive director of the UCF REC, one of 62 RECs established nationwide to help primary care providers adopt, implement and reach meaningful use of electronic health records. “We support the evolving healthcare delivery models, and the PCMH initiative with our PCMH-certified content specialists spearheading the team. Our customized approach guides providers through the process with best practices that follow National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) requirements.”
Jordon Schagrin, MHCI, PCMH CCE, project manager of PCMH Recognition Services/
Central Florida HIT Initiative for the UCF REC, focuses on helping private, independent doctors in small practice settings.
“Florida is not a national leader in the PCMH movement,” said Schagrin. “It’s positive to see the state provide support because what it takes to become a PCMH is very challenging, very resource-intensive, and also very timely.”
Under the PCMH model, prevention and care management is the emphasis. The UCF REC, established by the UCF College of Medicine in 2009, provides organizational readiness assessments, assists practices with PCMH recognition requirements through an accrediting agency, and supports practices through long-term transformation.
For the Florida Pediatric Medical Home Demonstration Project, Schagrin helped some pediatric practices determine if they would benefit from applying for a spot on the short list of providers selected for the pilot project.
“The state was very selective in their criteria,” he said. “The providers who saw the opportunity to participate in the pilot project are innovators. I advised one forward-thinking provider not to apply because he wasn’t ready to do it. Those who applied were the right people to apply.”
Shagrin pointed out the medical home concept is “very positive in many ways, but still limited in its scope.”
For example, the overall goal of the PCMH implementation, Shagrin emphasized, is to build a sustainable medical home model.
“One of the biggest complaints about Patient-Centered Medical Homes nationwide is that just because a practice is recognized as such, there’s no assurance that practices are operating under the model past a demonstration project period,” he said. “We’ll continue our work to keep these medical homes sustainable.”
