When Collaboration Becomes More Than a Concept

Premise Health staff members Chris Pruitt and Annalise Bandel collaborate in one of the many open-office atmospheres of the Brentwood, TN headquarters

Entering the corporate office, you might think you were at a high tech start-up: the creative casual dress code, the ping pong table, and the variety of shared spaces designed with group gatherings in mind—these attributes aren’t usually associated with health care settings. But at Premise Health, these are deliberate choices designed to reinforce a culture of engagement, keeping staff members connected, loyal, and committed to their mission of helping people get, stay and be well.

Premise Health sought accreditation to validate that the organization provides a high level of quality care that is second to none. To do this, they partnered with an expert third party–Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc.–to look at their operations through an unbiased lens. The consultative approach of AAAHC offered both a rigorous evaluation and an educational perspective.

AAAHC is the country’s largest accreditor of employer-based health care. AAAHC network accreditation is granted to a corporate organization that owns or manages multiple sites of non-surgical services.

In June 2016, Premise Health was granted accreditation through the AAAHC network accreditation program.

Here are some comments shared by the AAAHC survey team that visited the corporate headquarters and sites of service:

“I found Premise Health to be a high quality organization with talented staff at all levels. They were well structured with corporate direction providing excellent and comprehensive guidance to all their site clinics. Even though there were a wide variety of clinical operations driven by the employers’ scope of work and individual state requirements, the guidance provided was well adapted resulting in smooth operational efficiency. Their emphasis on prevention and wellness is a model of care that should be emulated throughout the health care industry.”

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“Premise Health clearly believes in its mission and assures that it is adhered to in all of their on-site clinics. There is no compromise–the patients’ needs always come first. We saw this on-site in the local and out of the area referral centers they establish for care that cannot be provided in their clinics. Clinic staff make all of the arrangements for the patients and their families.”