Providence Community Health Centers (PCHC) has again been recognized by Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island (Neighborhood) as a top provider of care to their Medicaid patients. PCHC achieved the highest performance for 15 measures in Neighborhood’s network of medical practices.

“We are honored to be recognized for the outstanding work that our PCHC care teams, nurse case managers, integrated behavioral health teams, patient navigators, clinical informatics team and so many more, do to provide such necessary services for our Medicaid patients and beyond,” said Dr. Nadine Hewamudalige, Vice President & Chief Medical Officer. “We pride ourselves on great quality and great outcomes, as we know our patients deserve the best.”

The results, which were for 2022, were measured by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), one of health care’s most widely-used standardized quality performance measures, used across six domains of care.

Several members of the PCHC team, including President and CEO Merrill Thomas, Dr. Hewamudalige, the clinical informatics team, were presented with a Certificate of Recognition for outstanding HEDIS performance by Neighborhood. The certificate, signed by Neighborhood’s Director of Quality Improvement Cesarina Elias, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kristin Russell was delivered with a letter thanking PCHC for their hard work and dedication in providing high-quality care for its members.

PCHC ranked in the Medicaid Quality Compass 90th percentile and achieved the highest performance in Neighborhood’s network on the following HEDIS measures:

• Follow up after Emergency Department visits for AOD dependence – 7 days
• Follow up after hospitalization for mental illness – within 7 days
• Follow up after hospitalization for mental illness – within 30 days
• Follow up after Emergency Department visits for mental illness -- within 7 days
• Follow up after Emergency Department visits for mental illness -- within 30 days
• Diabetes screening for people with schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder who are using anti-psychotic medications
• Childhood immunizations -- Combo 10
• Lead screening
• Postpartum care
• Timeliness of prenatal care
• Weight assessment and counseling for nutrition and physical activity for children & adolescents – BMI percentile
• Eye exam for patients with diabetes
• Hemoglobin A1C control for patients with diabetes – HbA1c control (<8%)
• Blood pressure control for patients with diabetes
• Statin therapy for patients with diabetes – received statin therapy

“The recognition is a testament to our entire team especially our frontline caregivers and those behind the scenes like our clinical informatics team who support our efforts to provide preventative services whether the patient is in one of our offices or in-between visits,” said Merrill Thomas. “Thank you to everyone on our team for continuing to put patients at the center of everything we do.”