The University of Vermont Medical Center (formerly Fletcher Allen Health Care) is again being counted as a top performer among leading academic medical centers in the 2014 University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) Quality and Accountability Study, nationally recognized as the most important analysis of its kind. UHC is an alliance of nearly all of the academic medical centers in the United States. Excellent results in infection prevention, low rates of complications and readmissions, and overall efficiency of care contributed to the high ranking.
Dr John Brumsted. VBM file photo.
“The elite university hospitals are in this study, so this means our patients are getting some of the best care in the country close to home,” said John Brumsted, MD, president and CEO of The University of Vermont Medical Center and The University of Vermont Health Network. “This achievement is due to the relentless efforts our employees make to provide the best possible care for every patient every single time.”
“The most important lesson from all of this is that, among the nation’s leading academic medical centers, we are demonstrating consistency and competence at every level,” he continued. “The numbers show that we are more than holding our own, and that quality and patient safety are embedded in our culture.”
Highlights
- Patient outcomes improved over 2013
- 4th top 20 ranking in 5 years
- #2 in Supply Chain Performance for second year
Continued Leadership in Supply Chain Performance
In a separate analysis, UHC determined that for the second year in a row, The University of Vermont Medical Center ranked #2 in supply chain efficiency, which follows a #1 ranking in 2012. Supply chain involves buying and distributing all clinical and non-clinical items at the lowest possible cost. Among other functions, the supply chain operation makes sure doctors and other providers have the items they need at the time they need them to provide the best care for patients. Over the past 3yearsThe University of Vermont Medical Centerhas produced more than $15million in direct savings and/or cost avoidance in acquisition of supplies and equipment.
“A top ranking from UHC is the highest recognition a university hospital can achieve and it shows we are focused both on the quality of care and the cost of delivery,” said Charlie Miceli, vice president and chief supply chain officer for the UVM Health Network. “Cost management, enhanced business processes, a unified supply chain organization and meaningful informatics are the factors that helped us achieve this honor and they will drive our sustained success, powered by the incredible people who make it happen
every day.”
“This year’s UHC findings confirm what other studies have shown - The University of Vermont Medical Center is a national leader in providing high quality, low cost health care,” Brumsted said.
About the University of Vermont Medical Center
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a 447 bed regional referral center providing advanced care to approximately 1 million residents in Vermont and northern New York. Together with our partners at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences,
we are Vermont’s academic medical center. The University of Vermont Medical Center is a member of The University of Vermont Health Network, a four hospital system established to deliver high quality academic medicine to every community we serve. Our partners are: The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center; The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital; and The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital.
The University of Vermont Medical Center also serves as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties. For more information visit www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenter or visit our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog sites at http://www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenterSocialMedia
About the Quality and Accountability Study
UHC’s Quality and Accountability Study is designed to help academic medical centers identify structures and processes associated with high performance in quality and safety across a broad spectrum of patient care activity using a range of validated and detailed data. The UHC’s conclusions are based on data from the UHC Clinical Data Base/Resource Manager™ system, the UHC Core Measures Data Base, and the publicly reported Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. 104 of UHC’s 118 members participated in the 2014 study.