HealthNet Awarded Ambulatory Health Care and PCMH Accreditation by the Joint Commission
8/24/2015
HealthNet today announced that it has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation and Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH) Certification 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.
To earn this designation, HealthNet underwent a rigorous unannounced on-site survey June 15-18, 2015. During the survey, a team of Joint Commission expert surveyors evaluated HealthNet staff for compliance with standards related to how effectively the primary care clinician and the interdisciplinary team worked in partnership with the patient to provide comprehensive, coordinated, and patient-centered care. They also evaluated how well HealthNet’s facilities meet the Joint Commission’s ambulatory care standards related to a variety of areas, including coordination of care, monitoring for procedures that involve infection prevention and control, management of medications, and patient education and training.
“Joint Commission accreditation provides ambulatory care organizations with the processes contributing 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., CAE, executive director, Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation program, The Joint Commission. “We commend (name of organization) for its efforts to become a quality improvement organization, and achieving this pinnacle demonstrating a commitment to patient safety and quality.”
"HealthNet is pleased to receive accreditation from The Joint Commission, the premier health care quality improvement and accrediting body in the nation,” added President/CEO J. Cornelius Brown, CHE. “Staff from across the organization continue to work together to develop and implement approaches and strategies that have the potential to improve care for the patients in our community.”
The Joint Commission’s ambulatory health care and PCMH standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts, and patients. The standards are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help organizations measure, assess and improve performance.
HealthNet has been consecutively reaccredited by the Joint Commission since 1980. Nationally, less than 300 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) have been accredited by The Joint Commission. HealthNet is the first and only FQHC in Indiana to earn this designation.
In 2012, HealthNet became the first health care organization in Indiana and is among only 30 in the nation to earn The Joint Commission’s PCMH certification.
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The Joint Commission
Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.