The Joint Commission

The Joint Commission’s Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH) certification

The Joint Commission’s Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH) certification option is based on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) definition of a medical home.

The AHRQ definition of a medical home includes these core functions and attributes:

• Patient-centered care – Relationship-based care focuses on the whole person and understanding and respecting each patient’s needs, culture, values, and preferences.
• Comprehensive care – A team of providers (may include physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, mental health workers, social workers, and others) work to meet each patient’s physical and mental healthcare needs, including prevention and wellness, acute care, and chronic care.
• Coordinated care – Care is coordinated across the broader health care system, including specialty care, hospitals, home care, and community services and support. This is particularly critical during transitions between sites of care, such as when patients are discharged from the hospital.
• Access to care – Patients have access to services with shorter waiting times for urgent needs, enhanced in-person hours, around the clock telephone or electronic access to members of the care team, and alternative methods of communication such as e-mail and telephone.
• Quality and safety – The PCMH uses evidence-based medicine and clinical decision support tools, engages in performance measurement and improvement, measures and responds to patient experiences and satisfaction, practices population health management, and publicly shares robust quality and safety data and improvement activities.