Convenient Care Association Issues Industry-Wide Quality and Safety Standards.

Leading Retail Health Care Operators Accept and Support Mandatory Standards for Growing Industry

PHILADELPHIA -- To ensure consistent, high-quality care at retail health care clinics nationwide, the Convenient Care Association (CCA), the non-profit organization for the Convenient Care Industry (CCI), has issued ten mandatory standards. Under these standards, which clinic member operators are required to meet, patients are assured timely, accurate, treatment from qualified healthcare professionals.

"While many in the greater medical community, including the AMA, AAFP, and AAP, have issued guidelines for the Convenient Care Industry to aspire to, the Board of the Convenient Care Association has adopted ten official standards, thereby moving beyond guidelines, to ensure high-quality care and safety for all patients," said Hal F. Rosenbluth, President of the CCA.

Currently, there are more than 300 Convenient Care Clinics nationwide. With Convenient Care Clinics in 21 states, ambitious expansion plans, and roughly 50 percent of all emergency room patients who could/should be treated in more appropriate clinical settings, CCA Members are rapidly becoming a credible and necessary part of the solution to the health care crisis in America.

Members of the CCA that have pledged to support, adopt and abide by new mandatory standards include: AtlantiCare HealthRite, Aurora QuickCare, CareClinic, CareWorks Convenient Health Care (a service of Geisinger Medical System,) CheckUps, Early Solutions Clinic, Express Clinics, HealthStop, Lindora Health Clinic, MedPoint Express, MedBasics, My Healthy Access, QuickClinic, Quick Health, RediClinic, Sutter Express Care, and Take Care Health Systems.

The standards for all retail health care clinic members of the CCA are:

1. All providers will be thoroughly credentialed for license, training and experience, with rigorous background checks to verify training and licensing.

2. All CCA Members are committed to monitoring quality on an ongoing basis, including but not limited to: peer review; collaborating physician review; use of evidence-based guidelines; collecting aggregate data on selected quality and safety outcomes; collecting patient satisfaction data.

3. All CCA Members build relationships with traditional health care providers and hospitals, and work towards a goal of using EHRs to share patient information and ensure continuity of care.

4. All CCA Members are committed to encouraging patients to establish a relationship with a primary care provider, and to making appropriate and careful referrals for follow-on care and for conditions that are outside of the scope of the clinic's services.

5. All CCA Members are in compliance with applicable OSHA, CLIA, HIPAA, and ADA standards. All CCA Members follow Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for infection control through handwashing.

6. All CCA Members provide health promotion and disease prevention education to patients. All CCA Members provide written instructions and educational materials to patients upon leaving the clinic.

7. All CCA Members use Electronic Health Records (EHR) to ensure high-quality efficient care. All CCA Members are committed to providing all patients with the opportunity to share health information with other providers electronically or in paper format.

8. All CCA Members provide an environment conducive to quality patient care and meet standards for infection control and safety.

9. All CCA Members will establish emergency response procedures and develop relationships with local emergency response service providers to ensure that patients in need of emergency care can be transported to an appropriate setting as quickly as possible.

10. CCA Members empower patients to make informed choices about their health care. Prices for services provided at Convenient Care Clinics are readily available in a visible place outside of the examination room. Providers discuss what impact, if any, the provision of additional services will have on the ultimate cost to the patient.

"The decision by the CCA to develop uniform standards, including the use of evidence-based treatment guidelines and collecting and reporting patient outcome and satisfaction information is a positive step for consumers," said Margaret Laws, Director of Innovations for The California HealthCare Foundation, an independent philanthropy committed to improving the way health care is delivered and financed in California. "Convenient care clinics have the potential to be an innovative solution for millions of Americans who seek access to affordable health care at the right place and time," Laws continued.

"The establishment of these standards is the first major initiative adopted by the CCA," said Tine Hansen-Turton, CCA Executive Director. "The implementation of the standards further illustrates CCA's goal to strengthen and advance the CCI model of creating accessible, affordable, high-quality health care for all Americans," continued Hansen-Turton.

For more information about the CCA and to learn about its participating members, please visit www.convenientcareassociation.org.