Marine Corps Base Quantico -- In January, the Medical Home Port, Naval Health Clinic Quantico and Branch Health Clinic Washington Navy Yard received verification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for again achieving Level III recognition by demonstrating compliance and scoring high in all “must pass” elements of the following respective NCQA standards.
Those standards are:
• Enhance Access and Continuity;
• Identify and Manage Patient Populations;
• Plan and Manage Care;
• Provide Self-Care Support and Community Resources;
• Track and Coordinate Care;
• Measure and Improve Performance;
Included in these standards are six “must-pass” elements. To get the achievement, practices must be validated in at all six elements. Achieving Level I II or III depends on overall scoring and compliance with all “must-pass” elements.
In 2008, these clinics started offering “Medical Home Port” to enroll patients into Primary Care at Naval Health Clinic Quantico and Branch Health Clinic Washington Navy Yard. These clinics were the first clinics in the military health system to receive NCQA Level III status in 2011.
This model of health care delivery was mandated by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery so the very best possible health care could continue to be given to eligible beneficiaries in an efficient and cost effective way.
This health care delivery method was relatively new to many Navy military treatment facilities and to make sure that clinics were an operating Medical Home Port, according to standards set by Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, a tool was selected to measure those standards. The tool selected was the National Committee for Quality Assurance for Patient Centered Medical Home.
The Medical Home Port model allows patients to see the same team of providers each time they come in for medical appointments which allows the patients and the assigned team of providers and clinical staff to develop a patient-centered relationship which replaced a system where patients could be directed to any available health care provider.
The ultimate goal of the Medical Home Port is to allow continuity between patients and the assigned primary care manager as often as possible. However, if the main provider is not available, another provider on the same team will deliver the care.
In addition to medical providers, the team of healthcare professionals is comprised of nurses, clerks, and hospital corpsmen. Patients are given the opportunity to know everyone on the team as well as they know their provider. Naval Health Clinic Quantico and Branch Health Clinic Washington Navy Yard believe that patient care provided by the Medical Home Port teams has established a patient-centered health care environment providing patients with more access to primary care and provides for longer appointments and better management of the patient’s medical issues.
Medical Home Ports add continuity of care for patients even when the active duty providers deploy or transfer. The combination of both civilian and military team members cultivates stability for the teams and patients when military members are transferred or deployed.
In addition to assigning patients to one of three teams at Naval Health Clinic Quantico and one team at Washington Navy Yard, both these clinics offer “Relay Health,” a secure electronic communication tool all patients can use to directly communications with their health care team. Relay Health allows patients to request medication refills, request lab results, schedule appointments, and ask questions of their health care team members all from the comfort of their home. To register to use Relay Health, visit https://app.relayhealth.com/Patients/Registration.aspx?bid=NHCQ. Naval Health Clinic Quantico patients also have access to the telephone Nurse Advice Line, call 1-800-TRICARE, staffed 24 hours/7 days/week by registered nurses who will assess symptoms and assist with accessing appropriate care.