Pediatrics Village, PC Earns National Recognition For Patient-Centered Care With Support From WellCare Health Plans

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) today announced that Pediatrics Village, PC of Peachtree City, Georgia has received NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and longterm, 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.

"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 Pediatrics Village, PC has the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care, at the right time."

"I am extremely pleased to have received this recognition," said Dr. W. Steen James, a board certified pediatrician and owner of Pediatrics Village, PC. "As an NCQA recognized Level-2 Patient-Centered Medical Home, we have demonstrated a commitment to partner with our patients and their care givers to help them achieve optimum health and wellness. I'd also like to thank the WellCare team for the counsel and support they provided, which was invaluable to Pediatrics Village's ability to participate in and complete the process."

"WellCare established its Enhanced Patient-Centered Medical Home Initiative to assist primary care practices in Georgia to become recognized as Patient-Centered Medical Homes to increase the number of practices committed to fostering strong physician-patient relationships, encouraging proactive care coordination and increasing quality of care for children," said Gwen Wyles, WellCare's Director, Product Operations, who manages the Enhanced PCMH Initiative program. "We'd like to congratulate Dr. James and Pediatrics Village for their commitment to providing best-in-class, quality care."

To earn recognition, which is valid for three years, Pediatrics Village, PC demonstrated the ability to meet the program's key elements, embodying characteristics of the medical home. NCQA standards 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.

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. WCG and NCQA have partnered to provide a discount to health care practices in Georgia that seek recognition as an NCQA PCMH. For more information about receiving the discount, participating providers should contact WellCare of Georgia at PCMH_GA@wellcare.com.

To find clinicians and their practices with NCQA PCMH Recognition, visit http://recognition.ncqa.org.

About NCQA
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's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's Web site (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.  

About WellCare Health Plans, Inc. 
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., WellCare Health Plans, Inc. WCG focuses exclusively on providing government-sponsored managed care services, primarily through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex medical needs. The Company serves approximately 3.8 million members nationwide as of June 30, 2015. For more information about WellCare, please visit the Company's website at www.wellcare.com or view the company's videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/WellCareHealthPlan.

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SOURCE WellCare Health Plans, Inc.