Children’s Community Pediatrics Awarded Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation and Primary Care Medical Home Certification from The Joint Commission

Children’s Community Pediatrics (CCP) has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its nationally recognized standards. The Gold Seal of Approval® is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care.

CCP, a network of pediatric primary care practices affiliated with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, underwent a rigorous, on-site survey in October 2015. The Joint Commission team evaluated compliance with ambulatory care standards related to a variety of areas, including infection prevention, medication management, environment of care and patient safety.

Established in 1975, The Joint Commission’s Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation program encourages high-quality patient care in all types of freestanding ambulatory care facilities. An estimated 2,100 organizations maintain this accreditation, awarded for a three-year period.

During the on-site review, surveyors also evaluated CCP’s compliance with standards related to how effectively the primary care clinician and the interdisciplinary team work in partnership with patients to provide comprehensive, coordinated and patient-centered care. Through this, CCP earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH) Certification.

A primary care medical home provides primary health care that is relationship-based with an orientation toward the whole person. Partnering with patients and their families requires understanding and respecting each patient’s unique needs, culture, values and preferences. The medical home practice actively supports patients in learning to manage and organize their own care and recognizes patients and families as core members of the care team.

“The Joint Commission accreditation provides organizations with the processes that contribute to improvements in a variety of areas, from the enhancement of staff education to the demonstration of leading practices within the ambulatory setting,” said Michael Kulczycki, M.B.A., C.A.E., executive director, Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation Program, The Joint Commission. “We commend CCP for its efforts to become a quality improvement organization and achieving this pinnacle of demonstrating commitment to patient safety and quality.”

“CCP is dedicated to giving our patients the very best in pediatric care,” said David Wolfson, M.D., F.A.A.P., medical director, CCP. “Each year, CCP implements quality improvement initiatives in order to continuously improve our processes and procedures. These programs allow us to protect our patients’ health and well-being, enabling us to provide safe, consistent and quality pediatric care at each and every visit. We are thrilled to receive accreditation from The Joint Commission, the premier health care quality improvement and accrediting body in the nation.”