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$1.9 MILLION GRANT BENEFITS HACKENSACK UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER PATIENTS
Hackensack University Medical Center is one of seven healthcare organizations from across the nation chosen to receive a $1.9 million grant as part of the second stage of the groundbreaking initiative,
“Pursuing Perfection: Raising the Bar for Health Care Performance.” The $20.9 million initiative is a program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is administered by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Being selected as a grantee under Pursuing Perfection places Hackensack University Medical Center among the top hospitals in the nation and reinforces the institution’s outstanding commitment to provide world-class healthcare. The grant furthers the medical center’s strong commitment to patient-centered care and focus. Continued involvement in this groundbreaking effort translates into better results for the patients of the medical center and directly impacts the future of healthcare everywhere.
The Pursuing Perfection initiative was developed in response to two reports published by the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit institution that provides health policy advice under a congressional charter, calling for an improvement in the quality of healthcare in America. The reports identified six areas of focus that were used as a guide for setting the overall strategic goals of the initiative. The areas of focus, all of which are concerned with the level of care patients receive, include safety, effectiveness, patient-centered care, timeliness, efficiency and equity. Each focused area was given specific goals to guide Hackensack University Medical Center (as well as the six other institutions chosen to participate in the initiative) in the development of the programs to be undertaken under the Pursuing Perfection initiative.
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Safety – strive to make patients measurably safer; avoid safety hazards and errors that harm patients and employees
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Effectiveness – strive to make patients healthier
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Patient-centered care – respect each individual’s unique needs and preferences; strive to make patients feel more respected by the healthcare system
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Timeliness – strive to have patients wait less time for care; deliver all indicated services at the right time
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Efficiency – strive to improve patient outcomes by administering care more productively’ avoid services that are not helpful to the patient or are not reasonably cost effective
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Equity – provide the same level of care for all patients, regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation
“We studied these goals very carefully when developing our programs under the Pursuing Perfection initiative,” explained Peter A. Gross, M.D., grant project leader and chairman of the Department at Hackensack University Medical Center. “It was imperative that we didn’t lose sight of the importance this initiative has on our patients and, ultimately, the future of healthcare across the country.”
Nearing the half-way mark of the second phase of the initiative, the medical center’s programs are in full swing. Seven areas of care were chosen and goals for improvement where developed for each. They include heart failure treatment, anticoagulation safety, geriatric care, heart attack treatment and follow-up care, stroke treatment and rehabilitation, preventive medicine, and medication safety.
Ultimately these programs will be emulated by healthcare providers across the country improving the quality of care for all patients. Because of Hackensack University Medical Center’s selection as a grantee under the Pursuing Perfection initiative, patients receiving care at the medical center are experiencing the future of healthcare now.
For more information on Hackensack University Medical Center’s participation in the Pursuing Perfection initiative, please visit
www.humc.com.
Hackensack University Medical Center, a teaching and research hospital affiliated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - New Jersey Medical School and a member of the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, is the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in the state of New Jersey. The medical center is one of the first two hospitals in the nation to receive The Governor’s Gold Award for Performance Excellence. The Quality New Jersey’s 2001 award is based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award established by the U.S. Congress in 1987 to improve organizational performance and to enhance the nation’s ability in the global marketplace. This is the highest award level and indicative that the medical center has sound systematic approaches and fact-based improvement processes in place.
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