All Take Care Health worksite centers now medical home accredited

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens and the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care have announced that all of the more than 50 primary care worksite health centers managed by Take Care Employer Solutions Group, a division of Walgreens that provides workplace health solutions, have received medical home accreditation.



This completes the process first announced in December 2012, when half of the company’s employer-based primary care centers received accreditation. AAAHC accreditation recognizes that each worksite health center meets the Association’s requirements to be considered a patient-centered medical home, embodying best practices and operating in compliance with nationally recognized standards of care.



“Working with our clients to provide onsite health care, we’re providing comprehensive personal care to each individual in partnership with the healthcare provider, while reducing costs and improving health outcomes for employers across the country,” said Trent Riley, divisional VP, Take Care Employer Solutions Group. “We’re changing the culture in health care by driving a new model for care delivery and creating a better overall patient experience, and the medical home accreditation from AAAHC further validates the impactful work we’re doing.”



As part of the year-long accreditation process, AAAHC representatives visited worksite health centers at a number of Take Care client sites, including BP, Hewlett-Packard and the University of Notre Dame, among others. At each location, on-site surveys were conducted in order to evaluate whether the health center successfully meet AAAHC criteria as a medical home.



The AAAHC accreditation brings further recognition to Take Care’s core structure for demonstrated compliance with AAAHC established clinical, quality and organizational standards related to the management and operation of its worksite health centers.



AAAHC has established specific standards for the medical home that require them to be patient-centered, physician-directed, comprehensive, accessible and to coordinate care with all of the patient’s primary care and specialty care provider teams.



“We are pleased that Walgreens has completed the accreditation process for its worksite health centers. The worksite health model offers a valuable alternative to traditional points of care and we are proud to be recognizing them as a patient-centered medical home,” said John Burke, president and CEO of AAAHC.



AAAHC, which in 2009 launched the nation’s first medical home accreditation, was also the first organization to offer an on-site survey for the medical home. The peer-based surveys allow for a more rigorous process examining the quality of care provided, and are conducted by physicians, nurses and clinical administrators who work in ambulatory health care delivery.



The primary care worksite health centers are a segment within the 370 employer health centers managed nationwide by Take Care Employer Solutions Group. Areas of focus at the worksite centers include leveraging advanced analytics to develop tailored strategies and health and wellness services to best meet clients’ needs; expanding the patient-centered medical home model across new and existing sites; and establishing medical neighborhoods to connect the worksite health center with Walgreens community pharmacies and other providers.



Take Care worksite health centers are staffed by physicians, nurse practitioners and other medical professionals and offer a broad spectrum of services including primary care, pharmacy, occupational health, fitness, chronic condition management, physical therapy, dental, vision and more.