Sutter Gould Medical Foundation is
among the Best for Health Care Quality
October 2, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MODESTO, CA – Sutter Gould Medical Foundation and the physicians of Gould Medical Group was one of nine physician groups affiliated and aligned with Sutter Health to be honored as ‘most improved’ or ‘top performers’ in the latest care quality report from the independent and highly-respected health care leadership group Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA). The 2007 pay-for-performance (P4P) program results – used by seven health plans to calculate incentive payments for physician groups – showed gains in clinical quality and use of information technology, plus stable patient experience scores.
Sutter Gould Medical Foundation is one of just five physician organizations in Northern California to be recognized with a “Ronald P. Bangasser Award for Quality Improvement” for showing the most significant improvement on P4P measures from 2006 to 2007. Medical groups, which participate in the IHA program, are scored on a series of quality benchmarks including preventive care and chronic care management, patient satisfaction and use of information technology to support patient management and care.
“We are extremely pleased to have our physicians recognized for demonstrated improvement in quality,” said James Conforti, Sutter Gould Medical Foundation chief executive officer. “This award reflects the substantial amount of hard work and dedication necessary for Gould Medical Group physicians to provide their patients with the highest quality of care Central Valley residents deserve and have come to expect.”
Sutter Medical Foundation North Bay (Santa Rosa) – is another physician organization affiliated with Sutter Health which received this award.
Additionally, IHA has recognized the follow physician groups – also part of the Sutter Medical Network – with Top Overall Performance awards:
• Mills-Peninsula Medical Group (Burlingame)
• Palo Alto Medical Foundation - Camino Region (Mt. View)
• Palo Alto Medical Foundation - Palo Alto Region (Palo Alto)
• Palo Alto Medical Foundation - Santa Cruz Region (Santa Cruz)
• Sutter Medical Foundation - Sutter Medical Group (Sacramento)
• Sutter Regional Medical Foundation - Solano Regional Medical Group (Vallejo)
• Sutter West Medical Group (Davis)
Across the Sutter Medical Network, staff members work with Sutter’s affiliated and aligned physician organizations such as Sutter Gould Medical Foundation to improve the health care experience for patients. SMN projects currently underway include improved communication to support patient interactions and raise patient satisfaction as well as using other tools to ensure patients receive the necessary preventive care and chronic care management services.
“For over 60 years, our Gould Medical Group physicians have provided quality care to patients in the Central Valley,” said Dr. Steven Mitnick, Gould’s medical director. “Our patients are our top priority and we will continue to focus on quality benchmarks that reflect our tradition of excellence in patient care.”
According to the Integrated Health Care Association, California’s P4P effort is the largest physician incentive program in the United States, involving 35,000 physicians caring for more than 11 million individuals. The pay-for-performance results are available at http://www.IHA.org
Sutter Gould Medical Foundation has care centers in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties, including Modesto, Stockton, Lodi and Tracy. SGMF is part of Sutter Health, a family of not-for-profit hospitals and physician organizations that share resources and expertise to advance health care quality.
About Sutter Health
Serving patients and their families in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns, Sutter Health doctors, hospitals and other health care service providers join resources and share expertise to advance health care quality and access. Sutter-affiliated hospitals are regional leaders in cardiac care, women’s and children’s services, cancer care, orthopedics and advanced patient safety technology. For more information about the not-for-profit Sutter Health family, please visit www.sutterhealth.org.