(Reno, Nev.) July 10, 2017 – Northern Nevada HOPES has met all 19 program requirements and received three innovations during a recent Operational Site Visit (OSV) from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). HOPES has also received Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition from The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) such as HOPES are audited every three years by the HRSA to provide an objective assessment and verification on the status of a Health Center Program grantee’s compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of an FQHC. The audit is a three-day process that covers every part of a health center addressing 19 FQHC program requirements including governance, administration, finance and clinical operations.
During the site visit, HOPES met all 19 program requirements, which is a rare achievement for an FQHC. HOPES is the first health center in Nevada to receive a perfect score from the HRSA.
HRSA also recommended HOPES for 3 innovations during the OSV. Innovations are recognition for forward-thinking practices or programs at an FQHC. Even getting one innovation is a major achievement for an FQHC.
These innovations include HOPES’s “state-of-the-art” pharmacy, the new Medical Legal Partnership program with Washoe Legal Services and HOPES’s new Financial Wellness Clinic. Access to legal services and financial literacy are two social determinants for health that impact people’s long-term health outcomes.
NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition is received for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long‐term, participative relationships. The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home is a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, improve patients’ experience of care and reduce costs. Medical homes foster ongoing partnerships between patients 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. Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs, and can improve patient and provider reported experiences of care.
Level 3 recognition is the highest status a PCMH can achieve. To earn recognition, which is valid for three years, Northern Nevada HOPES demonstrated the ability to meet the program’s key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home.
