Dear Friends and Colleagues:
Crozer-Keystone Health System is pleased to present an overview of the Fourth Annual Report on Quality. The report highlights some of the health system’s ongoing quality initiatives, the specific strides we have made in fiscal year 2001, and our future goals and challenges.
High-quality health care has been a top priority at Crozer-Keystone Health System since its inception more than a decade ago. In fact, Crozer-Keystone’s “Quality Quest” is grounded in our mission statement: to improve the health status of our patients and community members in a user-friendly and comprehensive manner. At Crozer-Keystone, quality means that our hospitals and outpatient facilities offer modern, convenient accommodations; that our health professionals provide care which is advanced, accurate, timely, ethical and compassionate; that our patients and their families are treated with the utmost respect and dignity; and that our patients and community are empowered with the education and resources necessary to prevent disease and maintain healthy, happy lives.
Crozer-Keystone Health System is particularly proud to provide programs and services that meet the specific needs of our community members and that are consistent with the federal government’s “Healthy People” goals. For the last 10 years, Crozer-Keystone has conducted biannual needs assessments to help identify which diseases and medical/socioeconomic conditions predominantly affect the residents of Delaware County – and to determine the best ways to treat them. As a result of these assessments, Crozer-Keystone has collaborated with local school districts and community health organizations to increase childhood immunization and pre-/postnatal care, to minimize teen pregnancy and infant mortality rates, to encourage routine screenings and risk assessments, and to reduce unhealthy behaviors such as smoking. Building on this knowledge and progress, Crozer-Keystone is now working to achieve a selected set of Healthy People 2010 goals.
Many of our other quality initiatives occur at the hospital level. Crozer-Keystone hospitals are continuing to improve both patient satisfaction and patient safety. We ensure that our clinicians are using the most up-to-date and effective treatments. Crozer-Keystone supports “evidence-based medicine,” which brings the latest research findings into everyday practice. At Crozer-Keystone, services such as neonatology, burn care, cardiology, sleep disorder treatment, and behavioral health have benefited from this approach. Also benefiting are our patients, who are healthier as a result and require fewer readmissions.
This overview of the 2001 quality report contains additional statistical data and analysis for your review. To request the complete Fourth Annual Report on Quality, you can call 610-447-2380. We also invite your feedback -- and partnership -- in our ongoing Quality Quest.
Gerald Miller
President and Chief Executive Officer
Crozer-Keystone Health System
Joan K. Richards
Chief Operating Officer, Crozer-Keystone Health System
President, Crozer-Keystone Hospitals
Joseph R. Stock, M.D.
Chairman, Quality of Care Committee
Crozer-Keystone Health System