Healthy You is a new comprehensive
health and wellness program, initiated by Cary
Medical Center,
that was developed in direct response to feedback from a series of focus groups
conducted in Aroostook
County. Focus group results revealed that residents wanted
programs and information that extended beyond traditional health promotion and education. Respondents spoke of a current lack of
information and services that address topics not typically part of a person's
routine healthcare, but that definitely affect their overall wellbeing.
"Through Healthy You, we want
to empower residents to improve or enhance their lives," said Kris Doody, RN,
CEO of Cary Medical Center. "While
overall physical health is important, we recognize that there are many other
factors that contribute to a person's wellbeing. Healthy You will address these issues through
a unique combination of programming that covers traditional health and modern
wellness."
Cary Medical Center has earned ‘Tier One' status as a preferred hospital in terms of
established measures of quality care and patient safety. Cary,
along with a number of other hospitals in the state was recognized by the Maine
State Employees Insurance Program. The
recognition was based on the results of a survey conducted by the Maine Health
Management Coalition. Cary is one of a handful of hospitals in the
State that has been on the list since the inception of the ‘Tier One'
designation which began in 2006.
According to Frank Johnson, Executive Director of the Maine State
Employees Health Insurance Program, the hospital rating system provides a
benefit to members.
‘The benefit design provides that if a member
receives care from a preferred hospital, any services billed by that hospital
are not subject to the annual deductible. Once the annual deductible is
satisfied, there is no financial incentive. We remind members that the modest
financial incentive was not designed to save the members or the plan money but
to give them pause to consider patient safety and clinical quality issues when
choosing a hospital. The tiered hospital is a tool to help them make informed
decisions."
Cary Medical
Center has scored among the top 10% of
hospitals in the United
States in measuring performance on standards
of care in the treatment of Pneumonia. Cary scored 100% on five
out of seven measures and outscored the nations top hospitals on two
measures. The scores reflect the results
of the latest quality care assessment completed by the Hospital Quality
Alliance (HQA). The HQA is a reporting initiative
providing information on the quality of care in hospitals who volunteered to
report their data for selected clinical topics.
The
organizations website www.aha.org/aja_app/issues/HQA/index.jsp
contains the latest data and resources available for this initiative to make
hospital quality information publicly available and to improve the care
hospitals provide. The HQA performance
data assesses hospitals on 24 different quality measures. Beth Feldpush, Senior Associate
Director for Quality at the American Hospital Association said that the
performance measures used by the Hospital Quality Alliance have a strong
evidence base.
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