Adventist Health Recognized for Transparency in Quality

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Healthcare Consumers are doing their homework these days. Before selecting a health plan or physician, they are going online to study hospital outcomes and evaluating which hospital provides the safest care. Once they've done their research, they are better equipped to make intelligent decisions about who should navigate their care. Adventist Medical Center (AMC) has recently achieved national recognition for providing credible online transparency about quality outcomes. 

URAC, an independent organization evaluating health care quality through its accreditation, education and measurement programs and The Leapfrog Group, an organization examining national healthcare standards of safety, quality, and efficiency awarded AMC the Excellence in Hospital Website Transparency Award. The award identifies outstanding hospital websites that promote transparency of quality measures in a manner that is useful and user-friendly for consumers. Hospitals websites were evaluated for communicating patient care results. Criteria included credibility, literacy, connectivity, and design as well as evaluation of the Leapfrog's Hospital Quality Results.

"We're transparent with our outcomes because we want to keep the community well informed about the care being provided by our team of 2,000 employees who are committed to make patient safety a priority," states Carolyn Kozik, RN, director of Quality Resources at Adventist Health. 59% of adults in the United States say they have looked online for health information in the past year. "By viewing our online data, the public can evaluate our ability to prevent complications and re-admissions, while providing safe, timely and appropriate care for their loved ones.  Our goal is perfect care, every patient, every time," continues Kozik.

The hospital believes that consumers should know how they are performing and that by tracking this information they have improved as an organization in establishing processes which lead to better outcomes.  It's all part of the hospital's continual process improvement plan. To learn more visit AdventistHealthNW.com

About Adventist Medical Center (AMC)

Adventist Medical Center (AMC), located in southeast Portland, is a nonprofit, 302-bed acute care facility, offering a full range of inpatient, outpatient and emergency services throughout the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.  It is ranked in the top 5% of hospitals nationwide for patient safety.  Adventist Health Medical Group represents more than 100 primary care and specialty physicians who treat and admit their patients to Adventist Medical Center.

Adventist Medical Center is part of Adventist Health, a faith-based, not-for-profit integrated health care delivery system with nearly 21,000 employees serving communities in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. Founded on Seventh-day Adventist health values, Adventist Health provides compassionate care in 18 hospitals, more than 135 clinics (rural health and physician clinics), 14 home care agencies and four joint-venture retirement centers. We invite you to visit AdventistHealth.org for more information.   

Media Contacts:
Judy Leach, Director 
Adventist Health 
(503) 251-6162 
[email protected]

SOURCE Adventist Health