FORT SILL, Okla. Sept. 4, 2014 -- The Fires Center Clinic, a Soldier center medical home housed inside Reynolds Army Community Hospital here, recently received accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
They needed the accreditation to operate, but they went beyond what was expected by receiving the highest grade for taking care of Soldiers.
"It's not a check-the-box thing. It's a way of doing care. It's a national certification for quality care and that's what our patients are receiving," said 1st Lt. Tonda Williams, RACH nurse and Fires Center Clinic staff worker.
The clinic recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate its partnership within the hospital -- something they said was instrumental in meeting those standards
"The Fires Center Clinic didn't do it alone. It was that partnership. We had to reach out to RACH, whether it was the medical management, the lab itself, the people who control the appointments, it was a team effort," said Williams.
They submitted the application in June and received notice they met the standards Level 3 accreditation in August.
"Checking in as a patient; seeing the provider; going to the pharmacy; if they need a referral out -- it's taking care of the patient's whole needs," said Williams.
The clinic is a centralized care facility for Soliders in 75th Field Artillery Brigade, 214th Fires Brigade and 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade. It's also staffed by those brigades with 11 providers and 26 medics and supplemented with staff from RACH.
Williams said they began preparing the clinic staff to apply for accreditation last November by going over the NCQA standards.
They had to qualify in six different platforms. From giving patients the resources they need, to tracking patient care from the first their first visit, phone call, or email to their last appointment.
"If a Soldier is sick in the middle of the night they can get online and make an appointment with their primary care provider. That's part of the NCQA being able to have access to care 24 hours whether it be them calling the Nurses Hotline or going to Relay Health. They can shoot us an email and we can send them an email back and say, 'Here are the three appointments that we can offer you right now.' So it's being able to take care of that patient 365 days a year 24-7."
The clinic did a self-evaluation of their processes and then Southern Regional Medical Command did a staff-assisted visit.
"They see if are you really walking the walk that you're talking. They interviewed patients, staff, medics, and then they let us know where we were at," said Williams.
SRMC gave the clinic approval to submit the application along with all the supporting documentation.
"It's a lot of work. It was multiple departments fed into it. A lot of people compiled everything," said Maj. Norberto Rodriguez, FCC officer in charge and 214th Fires Brigade surgeon. "Countless hours, probably months of doing all that, but ultimately it's for the Soldiers."
The accreditation lasts for three years. In the meantime, Williams said the staff will continue to work on how well they take care of their Soldiers.
"We're in a sustainment piece. We'll continue to monitor everything that we had to do in order to get this recognition because we don't want to let it go. We're continuously doing chart audits; we're continuously doing training. It doesn't just stop here."
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