Six physician organizations in Sutter Medical Network receive 'Elite' status

Six physician organizations in the Sutter Medical Network, including all five medical foundations, received "Elite" status today in the annual CAPG Standards of Excellence Survey™—the highest possible honor awarded by the CAPG professional organization. The survey measures medical group infrastructure against multiple criteria such as patient experience, population health and affordability.

Sutter Medical Network Elite Status winners (4 stars/highest recognition) include the following:

• Brown & Toland Physicians, serving Alameda and Contra Costa counties
• Palo Alto Medical Foundation, serving Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties
• Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation, serving Alameda and Contra Costa counties
• Sutter Gould Medical Foundation, serving Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties
• Sutter Medical Foundation, serving Amador, Placer, Nevada, Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties
• Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation, serving San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma and Del Norte counties

Physician organizations voluntarily participate in CAPG's Standards of Excellence survey. This year, 98 medical groups—covering 11.3 million patients nationwide— took part in the evaluation. The survey ratings, which assess medical group performance in six rigorous categories, help consumers evaluate a physician group's technical quality, patient experience and affordability.

"Physicians and care teams across Sutter Health work relentlessly to provide exceptional care quality, safety and service," said Jeff Burnich, M.D., senior vice president of medical and market networks for Sutter Health. "Recognitions such as these acknowledge how we partner with patients and each other to continually improve the care we deliver across our not-for-profit network."

"Our CAPG survey has become the industry standard for assessing what many of the nation's healthcare systems need to deliver accountable and value-based care in the physician practice setting," said Donald Crane, CAPG President and CEO.

"The industry validation is a testament to the Standards of Excellence's value in helping physician practices improve the coordination of patient care under health reform," said Crane.

"The real-world benefits of the survey are underscored through the partnership we maintain with the National Committee for Quality Assurance on the analysis and scoring of the survey and the RAND Corporation's use of the SOE scoring in its reporting to the National Institutes of Health on the highest yield structures for cost efficiency," added Crane.