Crystal Run Healthcare Named First Accredited Accountable Care Organization (ACO) In New York State By The National Committee For Quality Assurance

Receives Highest Achievable Level of Accreditation Available from NCQA; Among First Four Accredited ACOs in the Nation

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has announced that Crystal Run Healthcare has earned accreditation as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). Crystal Run Healthcare is the first ACO to earn accreditation in New York State and is among the first four ACOs to be accredited nationally. The NCQA has designated Crystal Run as a Level 2 ACO – the highest level of recognition that can be achieved in this first year of Accreditation. Level 2 Accreditation indicates organizations with the best chance of achieving the ‘Triple Aim’–improving clinical quality, enhancing patient experience and reducing cost. To be designated a Level 2 ACO health care organizations must demonstrate a broad range of ACO capabilities. The length of this status is three years.

This most recent recognition is both a reflection and the result of Crystal Run Healthcare’s leadership in healthcare transformation and reform on the local, regional and national levels. CRH was also among the first 27 ACO’s to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program beginning April 2012.

An ACO is a provider-based organization that seeks to improve the quality of health care and reduce cost growth–to “bend the cost curve”–for those individuals for whose health care it is responsible. The NCQA ACO Accreditation program provides guidance and standards for provider-led organizations to demonstrate their ability to improve quality and the patient experience while reducing the cost of care.

Being named an accredited ACO by the NCQA helps purchasers and providers identify effective partners. It also helps patients find physicians who are committed to providing the quality care they need, when they need it.    

“The Accountable Care Organization is an innovative model of health care offering the greatest promise for meaningful delivery system reform, improving quality and enhancing value by rewarding physicians and other health care providers for what they accomplish rather than merely for what they do–rewarding the value rather than the volume of care,” said Hal Teitelbaum, MD, JD, MBA, Managing Partner and CEO of Crystal Run Healthcare. “Crystal Run Healthcare is humbled and honored to be recognized as the first NCQA Accredited ACO in New York State, and among the first four accredited ACOs in the nation. NCQA ACO Accreditation recognizes years of hard work, commitment and investment by Crystal Run Healthcare leadership, physician partners and staff to improve the health care of those we serve every day–and to improve, through the principles of value-based care–the health care system itself. We are not chemotherapy, colonoscopy, surgery, or MRI salespeople –rather, we are in the business–or rather profession–of improving health outcomes for our patients, our communities, our state and our nation. We take seriously the awesome and solemn responsibilities we have chosen–to provide the best care for our patients each and every day, and to help lead transformation of the health care system to one which is sustainable, accessible to all, and which provides the highest quality care for all Americans.”

The NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality. The NCQA ACO Accreditation evaluates a healthcare organization’s ability to coordinate patient-centered care and enhance the patient experience by improving clinical quality through evidence-based clinical practices that thereby reduce the cost. The evaluation for the ACO accreditation by NCQA included a close examination of the following areas: ACO Structure and Operations, Access to Needed Providers, Patient-Centered Primary Care, Care Management, Care Coordination and Transitions, Patient Rights and Responsibilities and Performance Reporting and Quality Improvement.

“By earning NCQA Accreditation Crystal Run Healthcare has demonstrated to payers and other purchasers that it has met challenging requirements designed to show the efficiency, integration and high quality expected of an ACO. NCQA Accreditation also shows patients and providers that Crystal Run Healthcare is prepared to deliver on the promise of better care on all these dimensions,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, President of NCQA.

About The NCQA ACO Program:
The NCQA program contains many consumer protections and aligns with consumer protection principles outlined in the National Partnership for Women & Families’ Campaign for Better Care. ACOs are generally defined as provider-based entities that aim to improve the quality of healthcare and reduce cost growth for a group of people. In order to have enough patients for quality reporting and managing financial risk, ACOs must serve at leave 5,000 patients a year.

About NCQA:
NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of healthcare 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.

About Crystal Run Healthcare:
Crystal Run Healthcare is a premier multi-specialty group practice, and is among the fastest growing medical practices in the country. Crystal Run Healthcare includes over 300providers, in over 40 medical specialties with 15 practice locations focusing on the healthcare needs of the mid-Hudson Valley and lower Catskill region. Crystal Run has a strong commitment to primary care, employing an outstanding group of physicians representing the specialties of Internal Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Family Practice, Geriatrics and Pediatrics. The practice also includes unsurpassed sub-specialists in a wide variety of medical and surgical specialties and sub-specialties. Crystal Run Healthcare offers fully accredited digital radiology and laboratory services and is a national leader in the use and advancement of electronic health records (EHR). Crystal Run Healthcare is accredited by The Joint Commission and is designated by the NCQA as a Level 3 Patient Centered-Medical Home. The practice was among the first 27 health care organizations in the nation to participate as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) effective April 2012. NCQA recognition of Crystal Run as an Early Adopter seeking ACO Accreditation in January 2012 culminated in December 2012 with Crystal Run Healthcare achieving NCQA Level 2 ACO Accreditation.  For more information, visit http://www.crystalrunhealthcare.com.