The Patient Centered Medical Home  model (PCMH) is a promising option for expanding primary care coverage while reducing costs and improving the quality of patient care. In February 2007, the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, and American Osteopathic published a set of joint principles describing the key characteristics of a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). A year later, the NCQA released its own standards for recognition of Patient Centered Medical Home practices; the NCQA plans to release updated standards in 2011.

The main characteristics of a Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) are:

1. Personal physician: Each patient at a Patient Centered Medical Home practice has a designated physician, who leads a collaborative team which provides primary care.
2. Coordination of care: The Patient Centered Medical Home coordinates the patient’s care with other providers and facilities to ensure that information about all medical care of the patient is consolidated in one location.
3. Access to care: Patients have easy access to care, with open scheduling of appointments and after-hours access to primary care providers when needed.
4. Technological solutions: Patient Centered Medical Homes make full use of electronic health records and information technology tools to accurately record and analyze care provided to each patient.

Recognition as an accredited Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) means physician practices and other organizations meet national standards in providing continuity of care is for each patient, and preventative care is fostered by creating a stronger ongoing relationship between patient and physician and by facilitating patient healthcare access to the providers.

The centralized coordination of care should also reduce the potential for unnecessary repetition of treatments or harmful medication interactions.

PSN provides temporary and direct hire staffing of nurses with specialized expertise in managed care-related areas, such as case management, utilization review and quality management.  The company’s clients include major hospital systems and nationally known healthcare companies.  Several years ago, the company added recruitment for nursing education and leadership positions to its specialized recruiting focus.  PSN provides consulting services to health care companies nationwide seeking to meet and maintain national industry accreditation standards through URAC, the Joint Commission and the National Committee for Quality Assurance.  Recently, PSN created Reef Light Interactive, a division of PSN offering web site development and marketing.

Professional Services Network was incorporated in Maryland on April 11, 1990, and was the first nurse staffing company to offer medical record review services in quality, case management, and utilization review.  The first services were provided to local companies in DC and Maryland by qualified and experienced registered nurses who had gained experience in a relatively new field of healthcare.

During the mid-1990s, the mission of PSN expanded to include providing health care accreditation consulting services.  Through offering a larger scope of services, PSN grew from a locally-focused company to one working with top healthcare companies across the country.  Consulting now accounts for about 40 percent of PSN’s revenue.  PSN has broadened its recruitment and staffing to include licensed social workers and nurses specializing in other areas, such as nurse informatics.

Over the past 20 years, PSN has built a national network of registered nurses who are specialists in quality improvement, claims review, case management, and utilization review.  Ms. Kapetanovic is a registered nurse licensed in Maryland and the District of Columbia.  She holds a master’s degree in nursing from The Catholic University of America and is currently enrolled in a PhD program in nursing.  The company and Ms. Kapetanovic have been honored with numerous awards, including Employer of the Year (Business & Professional Women of Montgomery County) and Top 100 Minority & Women Entrepreneurs in Maryland.

On a good day, it will all happen seamlessly — it’s the Case Manager who coordinates the care, equipment and services that make the health care system cohesive.

The woman will get what she needs, and six weeks  later, she’ll be walking steadily without the walker, with her blood pressure controlled by medication, she and her family knowing exactly what pills she takes and when.

That’s the miraculous scenario and beauty of case management, of health care coordination, and why — in this time of complex medical information — Case Managers are needed more than ever.

Happy Case Management Week to all the “coordinators” out there!

For us, it was only a website…

Everything from color scheme and navigation to new pages and content was worked on. Overall, the website user experience was improved allowing users to learn more about our staffing or consulting services, any of our individual accreditation services, and even a few featured job openings and blog posts – all from the homepage.

Enough telling you about the redesign, I invite you to share the experience and browse around. Enjoy!

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Professional Services Network, Inc. is a woman/nurse-owned healthcare company located in Silver Spring, MD. Special thanks to Reef Light Interactive, for working hard to achieve a beautiful new home for PSN. To receive more information about PSN or any of our services, feel free to contact us or email us at nurseworks@psninc.net.

As PSN seeks new ways to communicate in this internet world, we hope you will find our topics posted to be of interest to you! As you are interested in accreditation – related information, news in the staffing and job world, or continuing education information in areas of case management, quality or utilization review, we hope we can add to your ability to benefit from the available knowledge at your fingertips, taking only seconds to read, while yet offering up-to-date information in your field of interest!

Drop us a line at any time, and let us know of your information interests! If we can find the answers, and write a couple of paragraphs to provide you with quick hands on information regarding topics you would find helpful, to stay informed, we will be glad to help out!

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Professional Services Network, Inc. is a woman/nurse-owned specialized nurse staffing and health care accreditation consulting company with a solid 19-year history. To receive more information about PSN or any of our services, feel free to contact us or email us at nurseworks@psninc.net.