OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) announced the winners of its annual Excellence in Healthcare Award, California’s top honor for provider organizations. The award recognizes provider organizations that earn strong results in clinical quality and patient experience measures while effectively managing costs. To achieve this recognition, provider organizations must perform in the top 50 percent in clinical quality, patient experience, and total cost of care.

Only 20 of more than 190 participating provider organizations across the state met IHA’s Excellence in Healthcare Award performance standards this year.

“California provider organizations are leading the way to high-quality, affordable, patient-centered care,” says IHA President and CEO Jeff Rideout, M.D. “We commend their hard work and dedication to improving care for Californians.”

If all participating provider organizations performed at the same level as the Excellence in Healthcare Award winners:

• An additional 50,000 California patients with diabetes would have their blood sugar controlled, helping to lower their risk of adverse health outcomes.
• 575,000 more California patients would rate their overall care quality a 9 or a 10, with 10 being the highest score.
• Healthcare savings would be about $3.1 billion a year—or about $408 in savings per member.
  
  

This performance is even more impressive when compared to non-integrated care networks and highlights the persistent advantage of integrated versus non-integrated care.

The 2020 Excellence in Healthcare Award winners are:

• Arch Health Medical Group
• Axminster/Providence Medical Associates
• Edinger Medical Group
• Facey Medical Group
• Hoag Medical Group
• John Muir Health
• Kaiser Permanente Southern California Permanente Medical Group — Antelope Valley
• Kaiser Permanente Southern California Permanente Medical Group — Kern County
• Loma Linda University Health Care
• Mercy Medical Group/Dignity Health Medical Foundation
• Mission Heritage Medical Group
• NorthBay Medical Group
• PIH Health Physicians — Group Division
• Saint John’s Physician Partners
• Scripps Coastal Medical Center
• Sharp Community Medical Group
• St. Joseph Heritage Medical Group
• Sutter Medical Foundation — Sutter Medical Group
• UC Davis Health
• UCLA Medical Group

Most Improved: The Ronald P. Bangasser, M.D., Memorial Award for Quality Improvement
IHA also honored the provider organizations that demonstrated the highest year-to-year relative quality improvement from each of eight California regions. Recipients of the Ronald P. Bangasser, M.D., Memorial Award for Quality Improvement for each region are:

• Bay Area: Kaiser Permanente Northern California Permanente Medical Group — South San Francisco Medical Center
• Central Coast: Physicians Choice Medical Group of San Luis Obispo
• Central Valley: Dignity Health Medical Network — Central California
• Inland Empire: Redlands Yucaipa Medical Group
• Los Angeles: Saint John's Physician Partners
• Orange County: AMVI Medical Group
• Sacramento: Sutter Independent Physicians
• San Diego: Sharp Community Medical Group

Adapting Performance Measurement in Response to COVID-19
For performance measurement in 2020, in response to COVID-19, IHA will use a prioritized, more limited set of measures for accountability purposes. The narrower measure set helps providers focus on the care services that reduce the potential impacts of COVID, especially for vulnerable populations with chronic conditions.

“The pandemic has had unprecedented impacts on healthcare access and delivery,” notes Rideout. “We applaud all of our participating provider organizations for their continued commitment to high performance and performance improvement even in the midst of COVID-19.”

About Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA)

Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) brings the healthcare community together to solve industry-wide challenges that stand in the way of high-value care. As a non-profit industry association, we use our decades of expertise, objective data, and our unique role as a trusted facilitator to make the healthcare system work better for everyone. We provide insights that help the healthcare system continuously improve. We build new tools that simplify how the industry works together. And we provide a forum for cross-industry leaders – through our board and programs – to have honest conversations that guide the future of healthcare.

For more information, please visit https://www.iha.org or contact Michelle Lewis at press@iha.org.