Winchester Hospital Joins Greater Boston Coalition to Improve National Quality of Health Care

Winchester, Mass. – Winchester Hospital is the only community hospital in the Greater Boston Aligning Forces for Quality (GBAF4Q) alliance, which has been selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to participate in the Aligning Forces for Quality(AF4Q) effort to improve the quality of health care provided in select communities nationwide. The largest health care philanthropy in the U.S., RWJF is investing up to $300 million in long-term commitments to improve the quality and equality of health care in America. Greater Boston joins 16 other regions that are coordinating efforts to improve the quality of health care at hospitals and in doctors’ offices, reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care, and provide models for implementing national reform.
 
“Across America, there are serious gaps between the health care that people should receive and the care they actually receive,” said Anne Weiss, who directs this work for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Despite having the most expensive health care system in the world, patients are subject to too many mistakes, too much miscommunication and too much inequity. As a result, too many Americans aren’t receiving the care they need and deserve. This unprecedented commitment of resources, expertise and training will turn proven practices for improving quality into real results in Greater Boston.”
 
“Winchester Hospital prides itself on the quality of care we provide to our patients and our continuous efforts to improve our care delivery systems,” said Kevin Smith, president and chief executive officer of Winchester Hospital. “We’re pleased to join this national effort to improve the health of communities throughout the United States.”
 
GBAF4Q is led by Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) and the Eastern Massachusetts Healthcare Initiative (EMHI) and is supported by more than 35 Greater Boston organizations, including Winchester Hospital. MHQP is a non-profit, broad-based coalition that has been collecting and reporting on health care quality information for providers and the public since 1995. EMHI is a collaborative of hospitals, health plans and universities with the shared vision for creating a high-performance health care system for the region.
 
Dale Lodge, president and chief executive officer of Winchester Healthcare Management, served on the EMHI Executive Committee and has been a member of the organization since its inception. He also serves on the Executive Committee of Employers Action Coalition on Healthcare (EACH). Smith serves on the EMHI Steering Committee.
 
In conjunction with the AF4Q initiative, Greater Boston will serve as a “learning laboratory” for improving the quality of care. Specifically, there will be three key areas of focus: 
 
·        Performance measurement and public reporting: using common standards to measure the quality of care that doctors and hospitals deliver to patients and making that information available to the public
·        Consumer engagement: encouraging patients to be active managers of their health care and make informed choices about their doctors and hospitals
·        Quality improvement: implementing techniques and protocols that doctors, nurses and staff in hospitals and clinics can follow to raise the level of care they deliver to patients
 
In addition to Greater Boston, RWJF is investing in Albuquerque; Central Indiana; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Detroit; Humboldt County, Calif.; Kansas City, Mo.; Maine; Memphis; Minnesota; Puget Sound, Wash.; South Central Pennsylvania; West Michigan; Western New York; Willamette Valley, Ore.; and Wisconsin.
 
For more information about the Greater Boston and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation AF4Q initiatives, visit www.rwjf.org/qualityequality/af4q/index.jsp. To learn more about Winchester Hospital, visit www.winchesterhospital.org.
 
About Winchester Hospital
Winchester Hospital is the first community hospital in Massachusetts to earn Magnet recognition, the American Nurses Association’s highest honor for nursing excellence. As the northwest suburban Boston area’s leading provider of comprehensive health care services, the 229-bed facility provides care in general, bariatric and vascular surgery, orthopedics, pediatrics, cardiology, pulmonary medicine, oncology, gastroenterology, rehabilitation, radiation oncology, pain management, obstetrics/gynecology and a Level IIB Special Care Nursery. Winchester Hospital has clinical affiliations with several nationally recognized hospitals in the region, including Children’s Hospital Boston, Tufts Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. To learn more, visit www.winchesterhospital.org.

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