Memorial Health Rewarded in Quality Care Project

Savannah, GA, August 19, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia has been recognized for quality performance in six areas in a nationwide hospital quality improvement project.
The Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (HQID) is a national pay-for-performance project started by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Premier, Inc. It is the first national pay-for-performance project of its kind. The goal of HQID is to improve overall inpatient hospital care and determine whether financial incentives are effective in helping hospitals provide the very best levels of care.

Memorial Health received awards for meeting or exceeding quality guidelines while caring for people in all five areas monitored by the HQID -- heart attack, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, heart failure, pneumonia, and hip and knee replacement. Memorial Health also earned a Top Improvement award for performance in the care of coronary artery bypass graft patients.

“We agreed to participate in the HQID project because we understand the importance of safe, quality healthcare. We want our patients to know that when they come to Memorial, they will receive standards of care that have been clinically proven to result in the best patient outcomes,” said Phillip S. Schaengold, president and CEO of Memorial Health.

Through the HQID project, Premier collects more than 30 evidence-based clinical quality measures from almost 250 hospitals across the country. The quality measures were developed by government and private organizations.
To facilitate open, honest communication with the community, Memorial posts its HQID outcomes on its Web site every quarter.

Memorial Health will receive financial compensation for attaining the HQID performance guidelines. The money will be used to further Team Members’ education and participation in quality improvement.

The Premier healthcare alliance is more than 2,200 U.S. hospitals and 58,000-plus other healthcare sites working together to improve healthcare quality and affordability.

Memorial University Medical Center (MUMC) is a two-state healthcare organization serving a 35-county area in southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina. The system includes its flagship hospital, a 530-bed academic medical center; Memorial primary and specialty care physician networks; a major medical education program; business and industry services; and NurseOne, a 24-hour call center.

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