For the ninth consecutive year, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, a major healthcare provider in the borough, received a Certificate of Recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for its systemic use of patient-centered, coordinated care management processes in its primary care services.
Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) accreditation indicates that a practice offers enhanced services and a higher quality of care. The Certificate of Recognition is awarded for one year, from Dec. 17, 2020, to Dec. 17, 2021.
NYC Health + Hospital/Queens’ mission is to provide quality, comprehensive care to all members of the public regardless of their ability to pay. To earn the recognition, the hospital has offered extended hours, care management to patients with chronic illnesses, behavioral health integration and other services.
Neil Moore, chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospital/Queens, said he is delighted that Queens has once again achieved PCMH accreditation.
“PCMHs build better relationships between patients and their clinical care teams. Research shows that PCMHs improve both quality and the patient experience and increase staff satisfaction, while reducing health care costs. Practices such as ours that consistently earn this recognition have made a commitment to continuous quality improvement and a patient-centered approach to care,” Moore said.
PCMH is a care delivery model whereby patient treatment is coordinated through their primary care physician to ensure they receive the necessary care when and where they need it, and in a manner they can understand. PCMH accreditation further results in an increase in reimbursement from health plans. NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens’ Primary Care Services has been certified for the last eight years.
Debra Brennessel, MD, Queens’ director of Ambulatory Care said she takes great pride in the fact that NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens’ Ambulatory Care Department has again been nationally recognized for having primary care services that offer a higher quality of healthcare.
“These services range from pediatric, adult and geriatric to virology. The PCMH designation demonstrates to all Queens patients that our primary care practices have successfully transformed operations to deliver enhanced quality and safety,” said Brennessel, who oversees the largest diabetic and hypertensive patient population of all NYC Health + Hospitals facilities combined. “It lets them know that they can be treated here preventatively for chronic illnesses, and it will ultimately mean there will be less reliance on the emergency department for their care.”
Patients interested in making an appointment at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens can do so by calling 844-NYC-4NYC. To learn more about primary care services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org/queens/.
