December 10, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC—As part of its mission to improve the quality of health care, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is launching two new programs. Population Health Program Accreditation assesses how an organization applies population health concepts to programs for a defined population. Population Health Management Prevalidation reviews health IT solutions to determine their ability to support population health management functions.
“The Population Health Management Programs suite moves us into greater alignment with the focus on person-centered population health management,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, President, NCQA. “Not only does it add value to existing quality improvement efforts, it also demonstrates an organization’s highest level of commitment to improving the quality of care that meets people’s needs.”
Population Health Program Accreditation
The Population Health Program Accreditation standards provide a framework for organizations to align with evidence-based care, become more efficient and better at managing complex needs. This helps keep individuals healthier by controlling risks and preventing unnecessary costs.
The program evaluates organizations in:
- Data integration.
- Population assessment.
- Population segmentation.
- Targeted interventions.
- Practitioner support.
- Measurement and quality improvement.
Accreditation benefits:
- Improve person-centered care. Aligning programs with population health management principles helps improve individualized, person-centered care.
- Improve operational efficiency. The standards are based on industry best Aligning operations to manage population health needs will reduce duplication of efforts and subsequent waste associated with misaligned goals.
- Support contracting needs. Using the standards to implement effective, targeted population programs helps organizations meet the needs of employers and payers.
- Provide added value. For eligible requirements, achieving PHP Accreditation allows organizations to offer automatic credit to health plans seeking NCQA Accreditation, reducing administrative efforts.
Population Health Management Prevalidation
Population Health Management Prevalidation evaluates health IT systems and identifies functionality that supports or meets NCQA standards for population health management. Prevalidation increases a program’s value to NCQA-Accredited organizations and assures current and potential customers that health IT solutions support their goals.
The program evaluates solutions on up to four areas:
- Data integration.
- Population assessment.
- Segmentation.
- Case management systems.
Benefits:
- Provide value-added client benefits. Organizations using health IT solutions that meet NCQA requirements can earn automatic credit toward their NCQA surveys, saving time and easing the administrative burden of providing supporting documentation.
- Gain a competitive edge. Advertise direct alignment of health IT functionality with NCQA requirements.
- Access industry resources. Enjoy an ongoing collaborative relationship with NCQA and learn frontline details about planned policy changes and enhancements to program requirements.
- Receive marketing support. NCQA lists prevalidated vendors on its website.