Cedars-Sinai Medical Group and Cedars-Sinai Health Associates Receive Top Score from California's Leading Managed Care Organization
Los Angeles - July 14, 2009 – Cedars-Sinai Medical Group has once again been awarded Elite status, the highest possible designation for quality care recognized by the California Association of Physician Groups , a professional organization comprised of 150 of the state’s leading managed care groups.
This is the third consecutive year Cedars-Sinai Medical Group has achieved this status, ranking it among the top 20 physician organizations in the state in 2009. The group is also one of only three in the Los Angeles area to receive this designation, which reflects a score of all four stars in the survey.
Cedars-Sinai Health Associates, an independent practice association that provides services to members of managed care organizations, received an Exemplary ranking (three stars out of four) for the quality care they provide to their patients in the Los Angeles area.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Group and Cedars-Sinai Health Associates were among 85 medical groups and independent physician associations surveyed for the organization’s annual “Standards of Excellence” program.
The program measures quality and affordability of health care services of its member physician groups, which provide health care to more than 13 million Californians.
“The accomplishments of these two organizations should come as no surprise, given the longstanding attention to leading edge technology, effective team care, community collaboration, and individual patient responsiveness within the Cedars-Sinai system,” said Wells Shoemaker, M.D., medical director of the California Association of Physician Groups.
“The leadership and vision within both the Cedars-Sinai Medical Group and the Cedars-Sinai Health Associates have been sparkplugs for innovation as well as accountability, and their contributions within the California Association of Physician Groups’ leadership circle have helped to define California’s highest expectations in health care delivery.”
“This recognition is the result of an ongoing commitment within our entire Medical Delivery Network to provide the highest quality care to our patients and to improve the health of our community,” said Thomas D. Gordon, chief executive officer of the Medical Delivery Network and senior vice president of Cedars-Sinai Health System, which is the umbrella organization for the two groups. “We are proud to have earned these high-level distinctions.”
Cedars-Sinai Medical Group comprises more than 100 physicians who serve more than 90,000 patients. Cedars-Sinai Health Associates, a group of nearly 400 doctors in private practice, provide health care to 35,000 patients in the Los Angeles area.
The California Association of Physician Groups’ Standards of Excellence program recognizes best practices among its member groups and measured it in four domains: the care management practices used to coordinate and provide care; the use of health information technology to provide the most integrated care for patients; accountability, which addressed how the practices monitor and improve their health care services; and patient care, which addressed how the groups accommodated individual patient needs and preferences.
For the awards, the California Association of Physician Groups surveys its members on their infrastructure and reviews groups’ ability to provide improving access, clinical quality and affordability to their healthcare consumers.