The health care Business Insights Cost & Quality Academy has announced the winners of its 2015 Cost & Quality Award, and four Health care providers were selected: Adventist Midwest Health, Barnabas Health, Dignity Health, and Good Samaritan. Hospitals and health systems that are members of the Cost & Quality Academy were invited to submit applications in one of six categories: Nursing Excellence, Patient Experience, Physician Engagement, Infection Control, Population Health Management, and Cost Reduction. Such initiatives are foundational to the mission of the Cost & Quality Academy, which seeks to provide its members with access to research on the best practices industry pioneers are employing in the effort to fully embrace and achieve value-based care.

The four winning organizations were chosen by the Cost & Quality Academy’s leadership team based on the quality of the intervention or innovation that each organization implemented, the success of the initiative, and its impact on the overall organization.

Good Samaritan won the award for their work in Population Health Management. To address the frequent overutilization of the emergency department by uninsured and underserved patients, Good Samaritan developed and implemented a patient-centered medical home (PCMH). Within the PCMH, patients are able to meet with nurse navigators, social workers, and nurse practitioners to help them receive needed care and guidance without unnecessarily utilizing other resources. Through its PCMH, Good Samaritan realized nearly $1 million in cost avoidance in 2014 alone.

“Congratulations to all of these Academy members for their successful initiatives, and for their commitment to improving the quality and efficiency of patient care,” said Cost & Quality Academy Research Director Christopher Roubique. “We’d like to thank all applicants who submitted applications as well.”

The PCMH is accountable for meeting a large majority of each patient’s physical and mental health care needs. This requires a team of care providers including physicians, advanced practice nurses, registered nurses, social workers and care providers to meet the needs of the patient.

Jane Russell, Director of Continuum of Care at Good Samaritan, will be receiving the award on behalf of the organization this week in Orlando. “I am so proud of the staff and their dedication to our patients,” stated Russell. “We work as a team and strive to always put our patients first.”

For more information about the Primary Care Clinic and the Patient Centered Medical Home, please call 812-885-3703.