Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Earns National Recognition as Patient-Centered Medical Home

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC’s Primary Care Center, part of the Division of General Academic Pediatrics, has received Level III Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term, participative relationships.

The three-year recognition is based on standards aligned with joint principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home, a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, to improve patients’ experience of care and to reduce costs.

“As the pediatric office for many of Pittsburgh’s underserved children, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality of care to the children in our region who are in need. This national recognition demonstrates our comprehensive approach and ongoing commitment to patient-centered care,” said Stacey Cook, M.D., Ph.D., physician, General Academic Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital. “We provide increased access, implement quality improvement measures and provide continuing outreach to our families each and every day.”

Medical homes foster ongoing partnerships between patients, their families 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.

“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 Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC has the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care, at the right time.”

NCQA standards are 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.