The National Committee for Quality Assurance this week announced new accreditation standards to help healthcare organizations meet virtual care program quality and regulatory requirements and to help facilitate alignment with value-based care contracting agreements.

WHY IT MATTERS

During last year's Virtual Care Accreditation Pilot Program, healthcare organizations provided valuable and strategic input in developing the new accreditation program NCQA said in its announcement this week.

Also informing the process were industry and committee discussions, market research, and a public review and comment period.

Evaluation modules for virtual care will create standardization and elevate best practices, according to Peggy O’Kane, NCQA's president.

Organizations can pursue a seal in Virtual Care Delivery, which is for virtual-first or hybrid organizations providing virtual primary and urgent care services, and one for Virtual Care Delivery Oversight, which is for organizations that oversee the care delivered through virtual modalities but do not directly provide care.

Healthcare organizations can also pursue both accreditations simultaneously and will benefit from annual reporting – a process that can help strengthen virtual care programs over time, NCQA said. 

According to the committee's website, the virtual care accreditation offers: 

• The flexibility that suits an organization's strengths, schedule and goals.
• Personalized service via an assigned NCQA representative.
• User-friendly reporting with reduced paperwork.
• Alignment with changes in healthcare over time.

The first two primary care and urgent care modules are now available, with more modules to come. NCQA is also hosting Virtual Care Accreditation 101, an informational webinar, on September 24 at 1 p.m. ET.

THE LARGER TREND

As virtual care modalities exploded with the COVID-19 pandemic, NCQA initiated a broad update of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set quality measures in 2020. 

The updates not only recognized the role telehealth played in making care available during an unprecedented national lockdown but also as "an important part of the healthcare system going forward," O’Kane said then.

However, Matt Wolf, healthcare senior analyst at consulting firm RSM US, told Healthcare IT News earlier this week that, despite telehealth's staying power in the post-pandemic era, success could stagnate without regulatory reform and incentivizing better patient outcomes.

While incentivizing better patient outcomes could help virtual care make more economic sense, expanded access is beset by the limits of current telehealth operations and payment structures, he said.

"The current regulatory and reimbursement framework impedes that," he said. "Instead of a single labor market able to serve patients virtually, we have 50 localized markets."

ON THE RECORD

"Healthcare delivery has undergone significant transformation with the rapid adoption of virtual care, and while accessible health care is important, it must also be of high quality and equitable across the care continuum," said O'Kane in a statement announcing the new accreditation.

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.