MARTINSBURG - Shenandoah Valley Health Center's latest accolade puts it in a tremendous leadership role for the community's health care, Terri Bliziotes said Tuesday.

With its recent recognition as a Patient-Centered Medical Home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, SVHC is on the cutting edge of health care, she said.

Bliziotes runs a private consulting firm in Charleston, Peak Performance Consulting, and coordinated SVHC's effort to become recognized for its high standards of health care.

"The framework for the medical home is the framework for reform," she said. "All medical care is local and SVHC is working with local providers to provide a medical home."

Patient-Centered Medical Home, trademarked by NCQA, is health care that revolves around the care the patient needs, when the patient needs it, Bliziotes explained. It is comprehensive, coordinated, integrated services, she said, which SVHC epitomizes.