ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amerigroup Community Care, which has served Georgia for more than 10 years, announced that Georgia HOPE, which provides in-home counseling care to children and adults, was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a level three Patient Centered Specialty Practice (PCSP). Georgia HOPE becomes the first behavioral health group in the country to receive this recognition level.
Georgia HOPE utilized NCQA Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) certified content experts, Jeryl Williams and Mike Smith to provide consultation for its patient centered specialty practice. Beginning in October 2014, Amerigroup provided regular in-person consultations where they explained features of the patient centered specialty program and guidelines, and assisted Georgia HOPE in transforming their practice to enhance quality, reduce costs and improve the patient experience.
Georgia HOPE is a community-based provider of mental health and substance abuse counseling services, which covers 14 counties in Northwest Georgia. Georgia HOPE focuses on the client/member relationship rooted in recovery, respect and responsibility. The large majority of services are conducted within clients’ homes or schools.
“We are thrilled to work with Georgia HOPE on becoming the very first level three Behavioral Health Patient Centered Specialty Practice in the country,” said Fran Gary, plan president, Amerigroup. “Being able to work with providers to help them more effectively serve the community and improve the quality of care for their patients benefits everyone. Georgia HOPE has been a strong partner of Amerigroup and this is a great achievement we share with them.”
“Georgia HOPE is honored to be recognized by NCQA as it clearly demonstrates our commitment to providing the best possible mental health care to our communities” said Nikki Raymond, Vice President of Operations for Georgia HOPE. “We are very proud to be the first level three Behavioral Health Speciality Practice in the nation, and we are grateful to our partners who provided consultation and support throughout our application process.”
Amerigroup has been a leader in Georgia and around the country in the development of the PCMH. The PCMH concept is built on care coordination and communication among providers to deliver members better care at lower costs. PCMH creates a medical neighborhood for providers and members.
Amerigroup Georgia currently has over 700 Primary Care Providers and 150 sites within our PCMH network, which serve more than 80,000 members. While we continue to drive this with our network providers, we are also working with Behavioral Health and specialty providers to transform them into PCSP practices.
About Amerigroup Georgia
Amerigroup Georgia helps improve health care access and quality for more than 375,000 low-income Georgians by developing innovative care management programs and services. Members are assured care that is not only accessible, but also accountable, comprehensive, integrated and patient-centered. Amerigroup Georgia provides ongoing community relations and outreach to encourage members to become active participants in their health care. Through health education programs, members are empowered to choose and sustain a healthy lifestyle.
About Georgia Hope
Georgia HOPE is a private provider of home-based counseling care for children, adolescents and adults who are dealing with a mental health related issue, behavior problem and/or substance abuse in 14 counties across Northwest Georgia. To learn more about the work of Georgia HOPE, visit www.gahope.org.