PCHCH stands for Patient Centered Health Care Home Accreditation. It is also sometimes referred to as Medical Home Accreditation. It is one of the latest health care models that places the consumer/patient at the center of health care decisions. It provides a collaborative effort between health care providers, patients, and patient’s families to discuss the pros and cons associated with potential procedures and outcomes.
PCHCH is a shift from the previous models in which the health care provider made all of the decisions for the patient without considering patient input, at least not to the degree associated with PCHCH. There is a shift in paradigm to not only notifying of the recommendations but providing a 2 way dialogue to make sure the patient really understands the different alternatives and is able to contribute to the final decision. This is also the premise of consumer driven health plans. These give the consumer the option to choose health plans based upon their individual needs.
There are at least three regulatory agencies which offer certification in PCHCH – URAC, TJC, and NCQA. The next three parts to this series will focus on each of these individually and how certification may be achieved.
BHM Healthcare Solutions is a healthcare management consulting company with accreditation as one of our areas of expertise. We specialize in URAC accreditation, TJC accreditation, NCQA accreditation, COA accreditation, and CARF accreditation. Please visit our accreditation page to learn more about our services. Please be sure to follow each of our posts in the What is PCHCH series.
