ST. LOUIS – Esse Health is proud to announce that all of its adult and pediatric primary care offices have been awarded Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH)  2011 Level 3 recognition by the National Committee on Quality Assurance.  Level 3 is the highest level of recognition attainable from the NCQA PCMH 2011 program. A Patient Centered Medical Home is a model of delivering health care that focuses on clinical performance, proper utilization, cost management and customer experience.    The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home 2011 standards emphasize the use of systematic, patient-centered, coordinated care that supports access, communication and patient involvement.  “A few years ago as part of our strategic plan and to further align with our Mission Statement, we set of goal of having all of our adult and pediatric primary care offices recognized by the NCQA as a Patient-Centered Medical Home,” said Mike Castellano, CEO.  “It took hard work and cooperation from everyone in every office, but we did it – we achieved our goal.”

The 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 is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.   The official NCQA directory of Recognized Clinicians can be accessed at http://recognition.ncqa.org.

Esse Health is a St. Louis-based, independent physician group that strives to improve the overall well-being of its patients through patient education, lifestyle modification and prevention. With 36 locations throughout the St. Louis and Metro East area, Esse Health’s services include asthma, allergy and immunology, family medicine, internal medicine, nutrition, pediatrics, radiology, urology, cardiology and gastroenterology. Esse Health is recognized as a leader in using technology in health care and physician accountability for both quality and cost-of-care. For more information on Esse Health, visit www.essehealth.com.