News

CONTACT:

Andi Eberly
(703) 838-0033 ext. 333
aeberly@amga.org

29 September 2010

Group Health Physicians Receives 2010 AMGA Acclaim Award at AMGA ACO Summit

HOLLYWOOD, FL - The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today presented the 2010 AMGA Acclaim Award to Group Health Physicians for "Reforming Our Delivery System: Internal Transformation to External Expansion," which embraces a system-wide implementation of the medical home model to improve care coordination and care management for their patient population. The award, granted through AMGA's philanthropic arm, The American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) was presented at AMGA's Institute for Quality Leadership Annual Conference, which is taking place September 29 - October 1, 2010 in Hollywood, Florida. Dr. Michael Soman, President and Chief Medcial Executive, and Dr. Paul Flugstad, Chair of the Board of Directors, accepted the award for Group Health Physicians.

In the award-winning initiative, Group Health Physicians demonstrated how years of innovative thinking, strong leadership, and a clear strategic vision created an organizational transformation and new ways to deliver value in patient care. Group Health leveraged a redesigned electronic health record to improve care processes, and strengthened multiple levels of access for patients. They enhanced coordination during patients' care setting transitions and reduced hospitalization rates. And based on early success with a medical home pilot in one clinic, Group Health rapidly expanded the medical home model to all 26 of its medical centers. The Factoria Medical Center pilot achieved a 30 percent increase in virtual care visits and a $10 per member per month savings compared to two other control medical centers.

Three additional groups were announced as Acclaim Award Honorees:

Dreyer Medical Clinic: "Clinical Integration Transforms Health Outcomes"
HealthPartners: "Integrating the Equitable Care Aim"
Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group: "A Journey to Healthcare Excellence"

"Group Health Physicians and the other groups honored here demonstrated a monumental leap forward in providing patients the health care they need and want," said Donald W. Fisher, PhD, CAE, AMGA's president and chief executive officer and AMGF secretary. "We salute the dedication of the organizations' leadership and healthcare providers in improving patient outcomes, patient safety, and efficiency of care; improving preventive and chronic care; and establishing uniform clinical and service measure to document excellence."

AMGA's prestigious Acclaim Award honors organizations that embrace the IOM's aims by incorporating the six attributes of an ideal healthcare delivery system as identified by the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System. These organizations demonstrated that:

Clinically relevant patient information can be available to all providers at the point of care and to patients preferably through electronic health record systems.
Patient care is coordinated among multiple providers, and transitions across care settings are actively managed.
All members of the care team both within and across settings have accountability to each other, review each other's work, and collaborate to reliably deliver high-quality, high-value care.
Patients have easy access to appropriate care, including after hours; there are multiple points of entry to the system; and providers are culturally competent and responsive to patients' needs.
There is clear accountability for the total care of patients.
The system is continuously innovating and learning.

The award highlights the continued research and investigation toward finding the finest models of medical management, coordination of care delivery, and a systemic approach to improving the patient experience. The recipient of the award receives a Steuben Crystal, produced specifically for the award as well as national recognition. Honorees also are recognized and receive crystal awards.

Applicant criteria, structured around the six IOM Aims for the 21st Century, place a heavy emphasis on leadership involvement. Applicants are asked to measurably demonstrate progress toward achieving the six aims and transforming their organizations to provide health care that is consistent with the aims. AMGA looks for medical groups that have made and documented system-wide changes to improve medical care for large numbers of the patients they serve, and through the process, consistently improve organizational performance. Applicants are evaluated in a blinded review process conducted by nationally recognized leaders in healthcare quality.

The American Medical Group Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the AMGA. As a nonprofit 501©(3) organization, its mission is to foster quality improvement in group practice through education and research programs in clinical quality, patient safety, service, operational efficiency, and innovation. In addition to research and demonstration projects, the Foundation helps support learning collaboratives and presents educational grants and awards to medical groups that demonstrate improvements in practice, quality, and patient care.

The American Medical Group Association represents medical groups, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious medical practices, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA's mission is to improve health care for patients by supporting multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to approximately 110 million patients in 49 states, nearly 1 in 3 Americans. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org

Website Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy