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Brigham and Women's Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Methodist Hospital -- Clarian Health, Rush University Medical Center, and The University of Kansas Hospital Authority Are Recognized As Top Performers in the 2007 UHC Quality and Accountability Ranking

Posted on: Thursday, 11 October 2007, 06:00 CDT

For the third year, the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) recognizes 5 of its full academic medical center members for demonstrating excellence in delivering high quality care in the UHC 2007 Quality and Accountability Study. Measures for safety, effectiveness, equity, efficiency, and patient centeredness were examined from 83 full members who provided data through UHC's comparative clinical, operational, and core measure data bases.

Engraved crystal awards will be presented to representatives of the top performing hospitals today by UHC President and CEO Irene M. Cumming at the 7th Annual UHC Quality and Safety Fall Forum meeting in Palm Desert, CA. This year's forum is expected to reach record attendance with more than 700 attendees representing the nation's most prestigious academic medical providers in the country. These leaders will share progress in the areas of enhanced communication, and collaboration and innovation, underscoring the meeting's theme of Redesigning the Work of Health Care.

The UHC Quality and Accountability Study has been conducted annually since 2005 when UHC produced its first landmark study that examined key measures of organizational performance in quality and safety. The Institute of Medicine's 6 domains of care continue to be used as a guide in structuring the performance categories. The focus has centered on the outcomes of care to identify associated characteristics of high-performing academic medical centers.

"Among our objectives in 2005 and still today is to determine what structures and practices are associated with excellent performance across an academic medical center," said Mark Keroack, MD, MPH, vice president, and director, UHC Clinical Practice Advancement Center. Dr. Keroack together with Barbara Youngberg, RN, MSW, JD, vice president of UHC's Insurance, Risk, Quality and Legal Services, has led the study's efforts and conducted on site, organizational development workshops.

Critical success factors first identified in the 2005 study include: a shared sense of purpose throughout the organization; leadership style; an accountability system: a focus on results; and a collaborative culture.

"While academic medical centers face unprecedented changes, their leaders and employees continue to meet new challenges with a sustained passion for improving excellence in patient care and operational efficiency. These efforts continue to be demonstrated through the data as noted in the UHC 2007 Quality and Accountability Study," said Ms. Cumming.

UHC, based in Oak Brook, IL, is an alliance of 97 academic medical centers and 153 of their affiliated hospitals, representing more than 90% of the nation's non-profit AMCs. UHC provides data products and services to members to enhance clinical, operational, financial and supply chain improvement. Visit "About UHC" at www.uhc.edu for more information.

 Media Contact: Linda Bosy 312/301-6328 - cell 630/954-2808  

SOURCE: University HealthSystem Consortium

Source: MARKET WIRE

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