UCI Health among the top ranks of America’s leading academic medical centers
UHC quality and safety report is gold standard for patient care
November 10, 2015
UC Irvine Medical Center has achieved a rank of 22nd among more than 100 leading academic medical centers in the University HealthSystem Consortium’s 2015 Quality and Accountability Scorecard.
The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) is an alliance of the nation's leading nonprofit academic medical centers focused on delivering world-class patient care through the review and analysis of hard clinical data. The Quality and Accountability Scorecard assesses a center’s performance safety, mortality, effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and patient-centered care. Its rankings are considered the most rigorous in healthcare.
“The annual UHC Quality and Accountability Scorecard is the preeminent tool academic medical centers use to measure their progress toward providing the safest possible environment for patients,” said Howard J. Federoff, MD, PhD, vice chancellor, health affairs, UCI Health, and dean, UC Irvine School of Medicine.
“Orange County deserves the best care academic medicine has to offer, with convenient access to top physicians, leading therapies and clinical trials, plus a total team approach to treating complex diseases that puts the patient’s needs first,” Federoff said.
UCI Health has set a goal to become one of the country’s top 20 academic medical centers. In recent years, its UHC Quality and Accountability Scorecard rank has significantly improved, from 79 in 2012, to 55 in 2013, 33 last year and 22 for 2015.
“This steady improvement is a result of a renewed focus on every element of quality care and a relentless adherence to multiple safety initiatives across the medical center,” said Douglas G. Merrill, MD, MBA, chief medical officer, UC Irvine Medical Center, and senior associate dean for quality & patient safety, UCI Health.
UC Irvine Medical Center is the clinical entity of UCI Health, which comprises the health enterprise of the University of California, Irvine and includes the UC Irvine School of Medicine, outpatient medical offices, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and programs in nursing sciences, pharmacology and public health. The medical center is home to Orange County’s only regional burn center, Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, combined high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and comprehensive digestive disease center.
About the University of California, Irvine: Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, UC Irvine is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, the university has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $4.8 billion annually to the local economy.
