GE Healthcare announced today that version 11 of its EMR and practice management solution – Centricity Practice Solution – has received Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) pre-validation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).  With this pre-validation, customers using Centricity Practice Solution 11 can now eliminate some of the documentation required to qualify for PCMH recognition.

In response to regulatory change, the healthcare industry is rapidly shifting to new care and payment models. The PCMH model is designed to improve primary care, with a focus on total care coordination through measurement, transparency, and accountability. Practices that have been recognized as Patient Centered Medical Homes by NCQA have often received enhanced reimbursement, increased patient satisfaction, reduced hospitalization rates, and reduced readmission rates.

“The design of Centricity Practice Solution fits the data-driven, evidence-based PCMH model and played a major role in enabling ACHS to attain Level 3 recognition,” said Shawn Tester, COO/CIO, Ammonoosuc Community Health Services. “Key attributes of the solution included the ability to support collaboration with other providers, query quickly and easily, report on patient population data, and modify workflow and templates to help facilitate implementation of care model improvements.”

The NCQA PCMH pre-validation helps practices identify products that alleviate the administrative burden of applying for PCMH recognition. After a rigorous evaluation, Centricity Practice Solution version 11 was denoted “pre-validated” and awarded automatic credits toward NCQA’s PCMH 2011 scoring. In a set of standards that describes clear and specific criteria, the PCMH program gives practices information about organizing care around patients, working in teams and tracking care over time.

“We value our selection of GE Healthcare’s EMR software; this along with our strong partnership are keys to our success in leveraging technology to transform health care and advance quality,” said Fred Rachman, CEO, Alliance of Chicago, an organization with 9 sites recognized as PCMHs. “The NCQA PCMH pre-validation of Centricity Practice Solution reinforces our confidence that Centricity continues to distinguish itself among EMR products; it provides a strong technical foundation upon which practices can build programs that put the patient at the center of care.”

Adjusting to a PCMH model can be a challenge for many practices, which is why GE Healthcare made a significant effort to achieve PCMH pre-validation for Centricity Practice Solution 11.

“The healthcare industry is changing rapidly, and adjusting to these changes can be time-consuming and costly,” said Robert Cohen, VP and General Manager, Ambulatory Practice Solutions, GE Healthcare IT. “Centricity Practice Solution coupled with strong support from proactive users in the community not only helps our customers tackle these changes head-on and receive the benefits associated with embracing these changes, but also helps practices minimize the costs and disruptions these changes can bring to their organization.”

To learn more about Centricity Practice Solution, visit www.gehealthcare.com/cps<http://www.gehealthcare.com/cps>.
*Centricity is a registered trademark of General Electric Company