BENNINGTON, Vt. — Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) and Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) announced that each of its five primary care practices in Vermont have achieved recognition for providing personalized, effective, and efficient primary care.

 

SVMC Deerfield Valley Campus in Wilmington, SVMC Internal Medicine in Bennington, SVMC Northshire Campus in Manchester, SVMC Pediatrics in Bennington, and SVMC Pownal Campus in Pownal have all received recognition.

 

The medical practices have been re-designated as Patient Centered Medical Homes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

 

"We are so proud of our primary care practices for their drive to continually improve patient care in the ways necessary to earn this recognition from the NCQA," said Robert Schwartz, SVMC's medical director for Primary Care. "The NCQA sets a high bar. Achieving their recognition is a testament to tremendous commitment and teamwork and serves as an assurance that we are meeting the highest quality standard for our patients."

 

The primary care medical home program identifies practices that promote partnerships between individual patients and their personal clinicians. A team of doctors, nurses, and other allied health providers oversees each patient's care. The team ensures that care for each patient's health needs is coordinated across the health care system.

 

To receive recognition, a practice must demonstrate its ability to meet six key standards of the Patient Centered Medical Home model, which was developed by the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Osteopathic Association. The areas include access to care, using tools to identify patients and their information; planning and managing patient care; providing self-care tools; tracking and coordinating care; and a system for measuring and improving performance. Each standard has several subsections. Practices must resubmit for consideration every year.

 

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers, and researchers.