Clarian Hospitals Receive Prestigious National Honor For Quality And Accountability

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 13 Oct 2007 - 4:00 PDT

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As Methodist Hospital prepares to celebrate 100 years of service, it will first celebrate a prestigious, national honor never before presented to an Indiana hospital. The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) has recognized Methodist Hospital as one of five Top Performers for demonstrating excellence in delivering high quality care in the UHC 2007 Quality and Accountability Study. Methodist Hospital finished with the top score in the survey.

Measures for safety, effectiveness, efficiency, and patient centeredness were examined from 83 full members who provided data through UHC's comparative clinical, operation and core measure databases.

Indiana University Hospital has also been recognized, along with six other UHC member organizations, as a Rising Star for improvement in quality and accountability measures by UHC. Riley Hospital for Children, also part of Clarian Health, is an associate member of UHC and was not a participant in the study.

"While academic medical centers face unprecedented changes, their leaders and employees continue to meet new challenges … these efforts continue to be demonstrated through the data as noted in this year's study," said UHC President and CEO Irene M. Cumming.

Both awards were presented at the 7th Annual UHC Quality and Safety Fall Forum meeting in Palm Desert, Calif, on Oct. 11, 2007. Daniel F. Evans, Jr., president and CEO of Clarian Health, accepted the awards. Evans and colleagues from other hospitals spoke on progress in the areas of enhanced communication, collaboration and innovation.

The Methodist Hospital and IU Hospital awards point to Clarian's consistent focus on the patient.

"At Clarian Health Methodist, IU and Riley we have a culture of preeminence," said Evans. "That means we are continually trying to improve the care we provide to our patients. To achieve preeminence, we must have an open and transparent culture with set goals for quality. The end result is patient-focused care deserving of this honor from UHC."

A Teaching Hospital

Clarian Health is part of an academic medical center that includes the Indiana University School of Medicine. The collaboration designates Methodist and IU hospitals as institutions of learning and knowledge transfer, and both hospitals are staffed with physicians from medical practices such as Methodist Medical Group and Indiana University Medical Group, among others.

"We work in close collaboration with Clarian to deliver quality, patient-focused care. This recognition amply acknowledges that fact about which we are proud," said D. Craig Brater, M.D., dean of IU School of Medicine. "Educating our students and training our residents in such venues fosters a generation of physicians dedicated to patient-focused care with an emphasis on quality and accountability."

Emphasis on Quality

Clarian has been a strong advocate for an increased focus on quality and transparency to deliver enhanced health care to consumers at a fair cost and to elevate the quality of care provided. As consumers are becoming increasing savvy, they want to see evidence that they are receiving the best care available. To aid consumers in their decisions, Clarian launched the Clarian Quality Web site, http://www.clarian.org/quality in 2006.

"We want to equip patients with the tools and information they need to make the best decision possible regarding their health care," said Sam Odle, president and CEO of Methodist Hospital and IU hospitals and Clarian Health Indianapolis operations. "We have made a concerted effort to use technology to empower our patients and to elevate the standards of care. The recognition for Methodist and IU hospitals by UHC validates we are taking the right steps to ensure the delivery of quality, patient-focused care."

Patient Safety Collaboration

The UHC honors also reflect on Clarian's long-standing commitment to patient safety. Clarian has been an active participant in the Indianapolis Patient Safety Coalition. This organization of medical and clinical leaders from central Indiana hospitals meet regularly to share information and work together to improve patient safety, enhance clinical outcomes, and work to ensure that each hospital has the best clinical practices in place. The goal is to achieve zero errors at all hospitals.

"All academic medical centers are working earnestly in the area of patient safety," said Odle. "For Methodist to be ranked as a Top Performer and IU Hospital to be ranked as a Rising Star demonstrates our level of commitment to patient safety."

More on the UHC Quality and Accountability Study

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 six 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.

About UHC

UHC, based in Oak Brook, Ill., 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 http://www.uhc.edu for more information.

About Clarian Health

Clarian Health is an Indiana-based, private, non-profit organization, offering a broad base of tertiary services, specialized pediatric care provided by Riley Hospital for Children and a Level 1 Trauma Center. Clarian is Indiana's largest, most comprehensive health center and is one of the busiest hospital systems in the nation. Clarian employs nearly 13,000 employees and owns or is affiliated with 17 hospitals and health centers throughout Indiana, including five in Greater Indianapolis: Methodist and Indiana University hospitals, Riley Hospital for Children, Clarian West Medical Center and Clarian North Medical Center. Clarian Health's mission is to improve the health of patients and the community through innovation and excellence in care, education, research and service. To fulfill its mission, Clarian uses the combined resources of its institutions and partnering organizations and its strong affiliation with the Indiana University School of Medicine, which is the nation's second largest medical center and a national leader in medical education and research. Clarian Health operates the Methodist Hospital, Indiana University Hospital and Riley Hospital campuses as a single hospital under Indiana law.

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