AMGA presents Medical Group Preeminence Award to VMMC

The American Medical Group Association today presented the Medical Group Preeminence Award to Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC), a health system based in Seattle, WA. The presentation took place at the AMGA 2012 Annual Conference, being held March 8-10 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

The AMGA Medical Group Preeminence Award is presented to physician-administrator leadership teams from AMGA member medical groups for exceptional leadership; innovation and vision; contributions to the advancement of quality; effective healthcare delivery practices and structure; and outstanding contributions to the local public community in which the healthcare organization is located. Previous recipients include Albert Lea Medical Center-Mayo Health System, Aurora Medical Group, Cleveland Clinic, Colorado Permanente Medical Group, The Everett Clinic, Geisinger Health System, HealthTexas Provider Network, Holzer Clinic, Lovelace Health System, NEA Clinic, Ochsner Clinic Foundation, Park Nicollet Health Services, The Permanente Medical Group, Riverside Health System, St. John's Clinic, Southeast Permanente Medical Group, Vanderbilt Medical Group, and Watson Clinic Foundation.

"This award recognizes an organization's contributions to the community but also to the medical group model, itself," said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, AMGA's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Virginia Mason Medical Group stands as an exemplar of the model, and their work is revolutionizing how care is delivered to their community. Virginia Mason has set and exceeded goals to be a safer, more efficient, high-quality care organization which gives back to the region through community involvement to improve health in the Seattle area."

This is VMMC's second time being honored with the award, having received it in 2007. The organization has a long history of physician-administrator partnerships and its leadership philosophy is articulated throughout the organization and is transparent at all levels. In 2000, VMMC leadership and board developed a new strategic plan that adopted the "business case for quality" as a key strategy with an unequivocal focus on the patient with the vision to be the quality leader and transform healthcare. Through this vision, the team supported an innovative program to provide "intensive" primary care intervention to patients who indicate a high risk for acute care. Additionally, the organization implemented a management system based on the popular "Toyota Production System," with consistently excellent results in primary care intervention utilizing a team-based delivery system.

As part of this "business case for quality," the organization participates in a health alliance comprised of employers, insurers, and healthcare delivery systems, which reports on the impact of quality and effectiveness initiatives across several aspects including prevention of diabetes and appropriateness of care. VMMC has been placed in the top two delivery systems in the region based on the results of the measures collected by the alliance.

VMMC's leadership is also dedicated to the improvement of the health and wellbeing of its patients in its community, including serving the patients who are uninsured, underinsured, or otherwise unable to pay for their care. Health improvement and outreach services provided by Virginia Mason include community health education, free health screenings, free flu shots, and health screenings for the homeless.

"Everyone at Virginia Mason is proud to have their efforts on behalf of our patients recognized by AMGA," said Gary S. Kaplan, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center. "Our vision at Virginia Mason is 'To be the Quality Leader and transform health care.' It is a great honor for our team to be recognized by their colleagues for their commitment to our patients, and for their innovation and determination in establishing benchmarks in care for all of us to meet and exceed."

Source: Virginia Mason Medical Center