The Quest for Quality Prize Recognizes Innovation in Quality, Safety and Patient Care [  View the Video ]

July 19, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY - INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center was one of five hospitals recognized today for its leadership and innovation in quality, safety and commitment to patient care. The American Hospital Association presented its American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize® to Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Ind. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City were finalists and two hospitals were honored with Citations of Merit – Amarillo VA Health Care System in Amarillo, Texas, and McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, S.C.

The Quest for Quality Prize is supported by grants from the MKesson Foundation and McKesson Corporation. The prize honors organizations that are committed to improving safety, patient-centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, and equity as the basis of a comprehensive quality-oriented health care system and also have made progress toward making this vision a reality that other hospitals can emulate.

“Each hospital recognized today has taken a slightly different path in its efforts to improve quality and patient care,” said Rich Umbdenstock, AHA’s president. “But each has successfully created a new culture – one based on trust, understanding and openness. That culture is absolutely essential in the continuous process of change that is necessary to ensuring that care is always the safest and of the highest quality it can possibly be.”

Speaking specifically of INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center, Umbdenstock made this remark. “Accountability and transparency are driving quality improvement at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center. They provide a great example of how hospitals can develop a culture that permeates the entire institution so that every employee has a stake in quality improvement.”

“We’re very public about how we’re doing clinically and how we’re doing from a patient satisfaction standpoint,” says Stanley F. Hupfeld, president and chief executive officer of INTEGRIS Health. “We believe transparency in and of itself is a motivating factor. When everything you do is exposed to public scrutiny, it encourages everyone in the entire organization to make quality improvement and patient safety the primary focus.”

Accountability is also addressed through an internal “pay for performance” program at INTEGRIS. When quality, patient satisfaction and financial scores are high, every INTEGRIS employee is rewarded monetarily. Hupfeld explains the philosophy behind the program, “We believe you get what you pay attention to, we believe you get what you incentivise, we believe you get what you reward.”

INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center recently underwent a cultural transformation, shifting from a culture of blame to one of teamwork. Instead of focusing on “who” made the mistake, efforts are now made to find exactly where the “process” failed and how it can be corrected.

Using principles adopted from the Toyota Production System, known as “lean thinking,” INTEGRIS can identify waste and overcome barriers that hinder the optimal delivery of care. Applying this approach has improved the patient experience, reduced delays, and given the staff more time to focus on their patients.

It is for these reasons and more that INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center was chosen as one of two finalists for this year’s Quest for Quality Prize. “Getting an award like this is thrilling because it goes to some of the best of the best in health care,” says Hupfeld. “For us to be included in such prestigious company is simply a symbol that we are headed in the right direction. It encourages us to continue down the path we are carving.”

A multi-disciplinary committee of health care experts selected award recipients and honorees. For more information on the award, including the 2008 Call for Nominations and award application, visit the Quest for Quality Web site at www.aha.org/questforquality.

About the AHA
The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include almost 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks and other providers of care. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information visit the Web site at www.aha.org.
 
About McKesson Foundation
The McKesson Foundation supports community-based programs and services aimed at improving the health status of at-risk children and adults. The foundation is funded by McKesson Corporation, a Fortune 35 corporation, which is the world’s largest supply management and health care information technology company. More information about McKesson is available at www.mckesson.com.