Brockton, MA – Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital today announced it has been recognized by the Premier healthcare alliance as a winner of the Premier Award for Quality (AFQ). Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital is one of only 27 winners out of more than 3,800 eligible hospitals nationwide.

The AFQ recognizes leading healthcare organizations that efficiently provide outstanding patient care and consistently set the standard in clinical excellence nationwide. Distinguished by its consideration of performance-based criteria, including clinical quality outcomes, resource utilization, and clinical process indicators, the AFQ measures top performers at the overall hospital level.

 “Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital prides itself on the quality of care we provide our patients as a result of our ongoing efforts to improve our care delivery systems, as well as our focus on patient-centered care,” said Norman B. Goodman, President and CEO of Signature Healthcare. “We are proud of this recognition as a top quality provider nationally. This award recognizes the exemplary care that our physicians and staff delivers to each and every patient whom we treat.”

Mitchell Selinger, MD, Special Assistant to the President for Quality Care at Signature Healthcare, accepted the award at the 2008 Premier Annual Breakthroughs Conference & Exhibition, which was held June 10-13 in Nashville, Tenn.

“The Award for Quality differentiates its winners as industry leaders by recognizing clinical excellence in both quality of care and operational efficiency,” said Stephanie Alexander, senior vice president of Premier Healthcare Informatics. “Premier is pleased to honor this elite group of hospitals for the high quality of patient care they offer to improve the health of their communities.”

All acute care inpatient facilities in the United States that submitted data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the CMS Hospital Compare project were considered for the AFQ. Using MedPar 2006 data, Quality and Efficiency Indexes were calculated for 62 disease groups and at the overall hospital level. Quality was measured by the incidence of three adverse outcomes: mortality, morbidity and complications, which are combined into a single Quality Index using the preference weightings from the Corporate Hospital Rating Project (CHRP). The efficiency index was generated using length of stay to proxy for resource utilization.

Acute care facilities attaining the top 1 percent designation are identified as having scores in the top two quintiles for process of care and in 10 out of 62 disease groups and at the overall hospital level for quality and efficiency.  Additionally, hospitals had measures for quality and efficiency that were equal to or exceeded expected outcomes.

Additional information about the AFQ and related methodology can be found at:

http://www.premierinc.com/about/news/awards/award-for-quality/index.jsp.

About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Serving more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 50,000 other healthcare sites, the Premier healthcare alliance and its members are transforming healthcare together. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the leading healthcare purchasing networks and the nation's most comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information. A subsidiary operates one of the nation's largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups. A world leader in helping healthcare providers deliver dramatic improvements in care, Premier is working with the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Washington. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.

Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital is a private, not-for-profit, 253-licensed bed, community teaching hospital. As part of Signature Healthcare, southeastern Massachusetts’ largest integrated healthcare system, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital emphasizes community-based, locally owned care. The hospital is the largest non-governmental employer in Brockton, and serves an area population of approximately 418,000 in a primary service area of 22 communities. The hospital provides a full spectrum of pediatric and adult care services, from primary to family medicine to advanced specialty care. With one of the busiest Emergency Departments in Massachusetts, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital had nearly 62,000 emergency visits last year. As a teaching affiliate of Tufts Medical Center, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital offers residency programs in surgery, internal medicine and a transitional year residency program, with 124 residents rotating annually.