Impact — Western North Carolina Community Health Services (2024)

Since 2016, WNCCHS has been recognized by the NCQA as a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home program reflects the input of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), and others.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans, managed behavioral healthcare organizations, preferred provider organizations, new health plans, physician organizations, credentials verification organizations, disease management programs and other health-related programs.

“NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition raises the bar in defining high-quality care by emphasizing access, health information technology and coordinated care focused on patients,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Recognition shows that Western North Carolina Community Health Services has the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care at the right time.”

WNCCHS is proud to be recognized as an "LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader" by the Human Rights Campaign's Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). This designation is awarded to health care facilities that achieve a top score of 100 by meeting stringent criteria related to non-discrimination policies, staff training, patient services and support, employee benefits and policies, and patient and community engagement.

The HEI is a national benchmarking tool that evaluates health care facilities' policies and practices dedicated to the equity and inclusion of LGBTQ+ patients, visitors, and employees. In its 16th edition, the HEI assessed nearly 2,400 healthcare facilities across the United States. In 2024, 384 facilities achieved the top score and earned the "LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader" designation, including WNCCHS.

The HEI aims to improve healthcare access and inclusivity for LGBTQ+ individuals, addressing barriers and discrimination that many face in health care settings.

The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) Badges recognize Health Center Program awardees, such as WNCCHS, that have made notable quality improvement achievements for the most recent UDS reporting period.

For the 2023 reporting year, WNCCHS received the Bronze Health Center Quality Leader Badge, which indicates top 21-30% best overall clinical quality measure performance among all health centers. WNCCHS also received badges for increasing access to comprehensive services (mental health, substance use, vision, dental, and/or enabling services) and for social risk factor screenings, which ultimately increase access to enabling services.

WNCCHS is honored to have received multiple Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) badges from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) over the years. These badges showcase our dedication to improving access, quality, equity, and the use of health information technology in health care.

In 2023, WNCCHS received the Advancing Health Information Technology for Quality badge. This award recognizes health centers who implements an electronic health record (EHR) system, offer telehealth services, engage patients through health IT, and collect data on patient social risk factors to better understand and address their needs.

In 2022, we were awarded the Addressing Social Risk Factors badge. This badge is given to health centers that collect data on patient social risk factors and increase the percentage of patients receiving enabling services. We also received the HRSA Access Enhancer badge in 2022, which recognizes health centers that either achieve other quality leader badges, show significant improvement in clinical quality measures, or increase the number of patients receiving comprehensive services, such as mental health, substance use disorder, vision, dental, or enabling services.

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