Quality at UVA
While there is no one measure for quality, here are some of the most important national indicators of quality for healthcare providers.
Academic Medical Center
UVA is a major academic medical center.
Why is this important?
Academic medical centers are tasked with advancing medical understanding as well as providing training to physicians seeking highly specialized skills. As a result, academic medical centers can offer the latest and most advanced treatment options, and physicians who treat patients also are usually actively involved in research that gives patients access to new treatment options not widely available. In many cases, physicians in academic centers work in teams to diagnose and treat patients, coordinating care and sharing information. Because of this, the patient benefits from the combined knowledge of a team of experts rather than just one expert.
Even among academic medical centers, UVa is truly a leader, ranked by U.S. News & World Report and by Solucient as one of the nation's top hospitals.
Credentials
UVA is accredited by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).
Why is this important?
JCAHO accreditation is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization's commitment to meeting certain performance standards. To earn and maintain accreditation, an organization must undergo an on-site survey by a JCAHO team at least every three years.
National Recognition
U.S. News & World Report ranks seven UVA specialties among the nation's best.
Why is this important?
According to the magazine's editors, ranked hospitals perform large numbers of complicated and risky procedures, and study after study shows that expertise counts. Ranked hospitals also adhere closely to advanced treatment guidelines, incorporate new research findings into patient care, and conduct research that gives desperately ill patients more options. In 2008, just three percent of hospitals were of high enough quality to be ranked in even a single specialty. UVA is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top center in seven specialties. The rankings include: Endocrinology (7), Gynecology (43), Cancer (36), Neurology and Neurosurgery (33), Respiratory Disorders (37), Digestive Disorders (26) and Ear, Nose and Throat (23).
Medical Expertise
UVA physicians are among America's Top Doctors.
Forty-eight UVA physicians representing a wide array of specialties are recognized as being among the best in their fields in both patient care and research.
Why is this important?
To be published in the America's Top Doctors guidebook (published by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.), doctors must be nominated by their peers. According to Castle Connolly, more than 250,000 doctors were surveyed by mail and asked to nominate the top people in their specialties and in related specialties, especially those to whom they would refer their own patients.
UVA physicians are nationally board certified in their respective specialties.
Why is this important?
Board certification is not a requirement to practice medicine. However, physicians who are board certified in a specialty (for example, orthopaedic surgery), have undergone years of additional specific training in that area and have passed rigorous examinations for that specialty. When serious illness, injury or disease is present, a physician who is board certified in a clinical area can provide an important, expert perspective.
Culture of Quality
In our mission to give patients the most optimal care, UVa fosters a culture of quality involving everyone at the Medical Center. UVa has in place a comprehensive program to look for ways to continually improve our performance, and achieve the highest levels of patient safety and the best possible outcomes for the patients and families we serve.
