The Advisory Board Company's Consulting and Management Division announced on Tuesday that it has recognized the UCLA Health System with a national award for innovative initiatives that improved care quality and patient experience while lowering cost. UCLA was honored along with Memorial Health System of Marietta, Ohio, and Sparrow Health System of Lansing, Michigan.
“As health care adopts elements of true consumerism — with increasingly cost-sensitive patients making their own care decisions — providers are finding that quality and consistency of care are significant competitive advantages,” said John Deane, president of the board. “These three health systems have shown national leadership in patient-centered initiatives that improve care efficiency and the health of their communities.”
UCLA Health System received a Transformation Award in Physician Practice Management for a comprehensive improvement program for more than 140 ambulatory practice sites that enhanced the patient experience, care consistency within and across facilities, and care access. The system created a patient experience enhancement team, which collaborated with the Advisory Board to develop “The Golden 15,” a complete roadmap for the patient experience that includes key areas such as scheduling, the check-in process, patient safety, training, overall practice appearance, and use of practice management metrics.