SARASOTA, FL (December 10, 2014) – Weiss Pediatric Care was awarded a certificate for Outstanding Contributions to the Florida Pediatric Medical Home Demonstration Project on December 6th at the final Learning Session held in Orlando on December 5-6, 2014. Kerri Bonich, Weiss Pediatric Care team member, also received recognition for her participation as a Parent Partner in the project.
Certificates were presented by Lisa Cosgrove, MD, on behalf of The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Florida Medical Home Demonstration Project Expert Group.
The 15 month project was aimed at strengthening the capacity of pediatric medical homes in Florida to provide high quality, family-centered care for all children and youth, including those with special health care needs.
Pictured receiving certificates are Weiss Pediatric Care team members (left to right): Rosemary Demarco, Clinical Care Coordinator; Diane Weiss, Parenting & Child Development Specialist; Robert Weiss, MD; and Kerri Bonich, Front Desk Specialist; along with Lisa Cosgrove, MD.
Weiss Pediatric Care was further recognized as one of two practices in the state of Florida invited to participate in a follow-up Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) Quality Demonstration Grant.
Partnering with Health Management Associates, the CHIPRA National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Recognition Facilitation Project will identify and provide technical assistance needed by practices pursuing NCQA Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition. It will serve as a learning opportunity to inform the medical community and federal and state policy makers about resources necessary for practices to achieve PCMH recognition.
“It has been an honor and inspiration to work alongside colleagues throughout the state to transform pediatric care at the individual practice level,” said board certified pediatrician, Robert Weiss, MD.
ABOUT MEDICAL HOMES
A medical home is not a building, house, hospital, or home care service, but rather a model of primary care delivery developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). According to the AAP, characteristics that define a medical home include care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate and culturally effective. The medical home is community-based, interdisciplinary, and uses a team approach to provide preventative, acute and chronic care.
The medical home concept promotes seven key principles:
- Personalized medicine – each patient has an ongoing relationship with a personal physician trained to provide first contact, continuous and comprehensive care.
- Physician directed medical care – the personal physician leads a team of individuals at the practice level who collectively take responsibility for the ongoing care of patients.
- Whole person orientation – the personal physician is responsible for providing for all the patient’s health care needs or taking responsibility for appropriately arranging care with other qualified professionals.
- Coordinated care – the care is coordinated and/or integrated across all elements of the complex health care system (such as subspecialty care, hospitals, home health agencies) and the patient’s community (for example, family, public and private community-based services). Care is facilitated by registries, information technology, health information exchange and other means to ensure that patients get the indicated care when and where they need and in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.
- Quality and safety – based on evidence-based medicine, benchmarked and measured.
- Enhanced access to care — through systems such as open scheduling, expanded hours and new options for communication between patients, and their personal physician, and practice staff.
- Added Value – Payment recognizes the added value provided to patients who have a patient-centered medical home.
About Weiss Pediatric Care
With more than 50 years combined experience in pediatric medicine, child development and parenting education, Weiss Pediatric Care is committed to delivering the next generation of health care for children and young adults. Longtime Pediatrician Robert Weiss, MD, and Child Development & Parenting Specialist Diane Weiss, MS, have been nationally recognized throughout their careers for providing outstanding care to families, leading their respective fields through education, and remaining on the cutting edge of knowledge and practices. Visit weisscare.com for more information.