Join Us for HCIF’s Annual PPC Leadership Summit on March 24, 2020

February 24, 2020

Please join us for the Health Care Improvement Foundation’s annual Partnership for Patient Care (PPC) Leadership Summit. This half-day event brings together healthcare leaders to address leading healthcare challenges and to hear about the innovative work organizations across the region are doing to advance quality and patient safety. The topic for this year’s event is the management of behavioral health patients in the acute care setting.

Register Here

Featured Speaker this year is:

  • Keynote Presentation by H. Ben Lee, MD entitled “Toward integration of Behavioral Health Service in Acute Medical Setting: Examples from University of Rochester Medical Center,” which will address the current efforts, potential barriers, and innovative models of behavioral health integration in acute medical settings
  • Additional program features will include:
    • Integrated Care in Action: Penn Medicine’s MEND (Mental health Engagement, Navigation, and Delivery) Program
    • Delaware Valley Patient Safety & Quality Program award-winning entries
    • Overview of Collaborative Opportunities to Advance Community Health (COACH) and the new strategy on trauma informed care

For Questions:
Please contact Cassidy Tarullo at ctarullo@hcifonline.org or (215) 575-3750

Congratulations to HCIF’s 2019 Delaware Valley Patient Safety & Quality Award Winners

November 20, 2019

The Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF) has hosted the Delaware Valley Patient Safety and Quality Award for the past seventeen years. This program is one of many ways in which HCIF promotes best practices in health care patient safety and quality throughout the region.

The top 10 winners for this year’s award program demonstrated fulfillment of the award’s evaluation criteria, which includes significant and sustained improvement in quality or patient safety; innovation; leadership and organizational commitment to improvement; a multidisciplinary approach; and the potential for replication in other healthcare organizations.

We are pleased to announce:

Please click here to watch the videos for these three winning initiatives.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Team with HCIF President

Pictured:  Gretchen Diemer, MD, Kate Flynn, Rebecca Jaffe, MD, Carol Kelly

Temple University Hospital Team with HCIF President

Pictured: Jonathan Shinefeld, Kate Flynn, Steve Carson, Tony Reed, Henry Pitt, MD

Main Line Health Team with HCIF President

Pictured:  Mark Angelo, MD, Brian Duke, Neal Shah, Joyce Holmwood, Joseph Gobern, MD, Sean Rowland, Jack Lynch, Lan Nguyen, Kate Flynn, Ronald Romano, Pat Ross, MD, Shelly Buck, James Paradis

The following entries placed in the top ten:

Albert Einstein Medical Center
A Multi-Faceted and Interdisciplinary Approach to Reducing Cesarean Section

Einstein Medical Center Montgomery
Improving Turning Compliance and Reduction of Pressure Injuries

Fox Chase Cancer Center
Improving Outcomes in Patients with Severe Radiation-Induced Dysphagia

Main Line Health
Implementing a Multifaceted Blood Product Management Program

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Center for Emergency Engagement: The Evolution of a Peer-Led Model

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Reducing the Number of Missed Doses for Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis

University of Pennsylvania Health System
A System-Wide, Data-Driven Initiative to Improve Opioid Stewardship

Call for Entries Now Open for 2019’s Safety & Quality Award Program!

June 5, 2019

The Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF) has hosted the Delaware Valley Patient Safety and Quality Award for the past seventeen years. This program is one of many ways in which HCIF promotes best practices in health care patient safety and quality throughout the region. The award recognizes hospitals and other providers for their innovative contributions in advancing patient care. At this time, we are inviting healthcare organizations—whether freestanding or within a multi-entity system—to submit up to 4 entries for projects undertaken at their site alone. A healthcare system may in addition submit up to 4 entries for system-wide projects that span multiple sites. Entries must be submitted online by Friday, July 12, 2019Please Click Here for further details and the criteria for submission.

If you have any questions about this year’s award process, please feel free to contact Liz Owens, HCIF’s Project Coordinator, at 215.575.3738 or eowens@hcifonline.org.

Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance’s State of the State Reports

The Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance, a former initiative of HCIF, annually released a report called the Pennsylvania State of the State.   The report analyzes multi-year performance trends on hospital quality metrics, such as readmission, mortality, and HCAHPS patient experience measures.  To view the two most recent reports from 2017 and 2018, click the links below.

2018 Pennsylvania State of the State

2017 Pennsylvania State of the State

After 11 Years, PHCQA Closes on April 30th

April 15, 2019

Since 2008, the Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance (PHCQA) has published health care quality performance data for all Pennsylvania hospitals on its website, www.PAHealthCareQuality.org.  PHCQA was at the forefront of publicly reporting transparent, objective quality of care information.  Through the guidance of the Measures and Methods Committee, composed of experts in quality measurement from a variety of Pennsylvania health care stakeholders, PHCQA developed a trusted measure set that was incorporated into several value-based insurance reimbursement programs.  PHCQA’s user-friendly, interactive search and reporting functions offered consumers, providers, and payers the ability to compare quality of care among Pennsylvania hospitals.  PHCQA became an operating division of HCIF in 2015.

In recent years, multiple public and private sources of hospital quality information have emerged.  As a result, on April 30, 2019, the PHCQA website will close.  Users should download any needed data files or reports, as no archived data will be maintained or accessible after that date.  If you are seeking similar information on the quality of Pennsylvania’s hospitals, please visit the websites of CMS Hospital Compare, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, or the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.

The Health Care Improvement Foundation would like to thank all those who served on the Measures and Methods Committee; Ancilla Partners, who built and maintained the website; and PHCQA’s longstanding funders, including Independence Blue Cross, Capital Blue Cross, Geisinger, and UPMC.