Joins all Vermont Hospitals in Publishing Report on Quality of Care

BURLINGTON, VT. - Fletcher Allen Health Care today released its third annual Act 53 Hospital Report Card. The report ranks Fletcher Allen's performance on more than 30 quality of care measures for the treatment of heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia, and for the reduction of surgical infections.  Also included are measures of volume and mortality for selected procedures, and nurse staffing.

The Act 53 Report is published in electronic format on Fletcher Allen's Web site at: http://www.fletcherallen.org/AboutFAHC/Act_53/index.html. Fletcher Allen's Quality of Care Web site can be accessed at: http://www.fletcherallen.org/Quality/index.html. Links to both reports can also be found on Fletcher Allen's Home page, at www.fletcherallen.org.

The Act 53 Report also contains information on patient satisfaction, safety, hospital finances, governance, public activities, Fletcher Allen's complaint process and its community needs assessment. It includes summaries of six quality improvement and safety projects at the organization.

Background

This report - required by Act 53, a law passed by the Vermont Legislature in 2003 - was developed by a broad-based committee consisting of representatives from the Vermont
Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Healthcare Administration (BISHCA),
the Vermont Department of Health and the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS), along with consumers, performance improvement and measurement experts, and staff from Vermont hospitals.

Fletcher Allen Health Care

Fletcher Allen Health Care, in alliance with the University of Vermont College of Medicine, is Vermont's only academic medical center.  Fletcher Allen Health Care serves as a community hospital for the people in the immediate area.  It also serves as an acute-care referral hospital for the approximately one million people in Vermont and northern New York.  The organization, with more than 6,500 employees, provides care at the Medical Center Campus and the UHC Campus in Burlington, and at the Fanny Allen Campus in Colchester, as well as at more than 34 other practice sites and 100 outreach clinics throughout the region.