Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center is again being counted as a top performer among leading academic medical centers participating in the 2015 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 120 academic medical centers in the United States. Excellent results in patient safety, low rates of complications and readmissions, and overall efficiency of care contributed to the high rankings. The hospital also improved on its own quality scores from the previous year.
Highlights
- Top ten ranking in new study of outpatient care
- 5th year in a row for Top 20 ranking in hospital care
- #2 in supply chain performance for third year in a row
In a new study that looks separately at ambulatory care performance, the UVM Medical Center ranked #8 nationwide, and it rated above the national median in all key measures in the overall analysis, resulting in a #16 ranking.
“The elite university hospitals are in this study, so ranking highly means our patients are getting some of the best care in the country close to home,” said Eileen Whalen, MHA, RN, president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center. “This achievement is due to the relentless efforts our team makes to provide the best possible care for every patient every single time.”
“I’m also excited to see that we’re a national leader in providing access to high quality, efficient outpatient care, which is one of our key missions,” she added.
Continued Leadership in Supply Chain Performance
In a separate analysis, UHC determined that for the third year in a row, The University of Vermont Medical Center ranked #2 in supply chain performance excellence, which follows a #1 ranking in 2012. In the past three years, The UVM Medical Center and its partners in The University of Vermont Health Network have collectively saved and/or avoided $33 million in the cost of supplies, purchased services and equipment acquisition.
Supply chain involves buying and distributing all clinical and non-clinical items at the lowest possible cost, and plays a key role in the Medical Center’s strategic efforts to help control the cost of healthcare in Vermont and northern New York.
“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,” said Eileen Whalen.
About the UHC Quality and Accountability Study
UHC’s Quality and Accountability Study is designed to help academic medical centers identify clinical outcomes 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 patient satisfaction survey tools. 104 of UHC’s 118 members participated in the 2015 study.
About the University of Vermont Medical Center
The University of Vermont Medical Center (formerly Fletcher Allen Health Care), 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
Source: UVM Medical Center 10.6.2015