What is a site visit?
PCPCH recognition is attestation based, so OHA conducts site visits to ensure practices are meeting the program standards. A PCPCH will a receive a site visit at least once every five years, per Oregon Administrative Rule. During a site visit, the PCPCH Program site visit team:
- Verifies that the practice is meeting the measures to which they attested;
- Assesses the practice operations to understand if the intent of the patient-centered care model is integrated into the PCPCH;
- Collaborates to identify practice needs, barriers to implementation, and areas of improvement to help practice successfully implement PCPCH standards; and
- Provides direct one-on-one practice coaching for six months following a site visit.
Site Visit Resources
These resources are for PCPCHs that have been selected for a verification site visit from the PCPCH program.
PCPCH Site Visit Team
The Verification Specialist (VS) is the primary contact for the clinic before the site visit, and assists the clinics with scheduling and preparing for the site visit. The role of the VS is to review documentation to verify that the clinic is meeting the standards attested to in its PCPCH application.
The role of the Improvement Specialist (IS) is to observe and verify the functionality of attested to PCPCH standards during the site visit, and provide technical assistance to the clinic. The PES disseminates tools and strategies for clinical transformation to the PCPCH and serves as a practice coach for up to six months following the site visit.
The Clinical Transformation Consultant (CTC) is a provider with extensive experience in practice transformation and the primary care home model. The CTC provides a clinical and quality improvement based perspective on PCPCH transformation. Having a CTC participate in the verification site visit provides clinicians the opportunity to learn from a peer how to overcome barriers and foster progress in transforming their practices. The CTC is available to assist the clinic for up to six months following the site visit.
Testimonials
The PCPCH program surveys all practices that have had a site visit. The Program uses this information to improve our operations and processes. Here are a few recent testimonials from PCPCH clinic staff:
- "The best site visit by the state I have ever experienced in my professional career. The support from the OHA site visitors was game changing. Six months from now we will be leaps and bounds ahead of clinics that have not had a site visit."
- "This was our first site visit and it was really quite painless. This was not due to the inspectors being less than thorough. They were VERY thorough but handled themselves in a friendly, professional manner. I appreciated their focus because it can only make healthcare better for our patients."
- "We plan to share our improvements and innovations with this [site visit] team going forward as we continue to improve and are happy to be a resource for other clinics."