Burlingame, California — In October 2011, Mills-Peninsula was honored with the California Department of Managed Care’s Right Care Initiative’s gold level of achievement for meeting or exceeding standards for controlling their patients’ diabetes and cardiovascular conditions to ensure their best possible health.
The Right Care Initiative (RCI) was launched in 2007 as a public-private collaborative effort to improve clinical quality in three key areas: cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hospital-acquired infections, and to rank among the best in the nation on critical metrics of how well care is being managed.
The Mills-Peninsula Division of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation is one of only 11 medical groups statewide that met the RCI’s gold level of achievement – reaching the national 90th percentile target for performance in cardiovascular and diabetes measures.
“It’s a true honor to receive this award,” said David Boyd, Ph.D., Mills-Peninsula’s Division’s director of quality. “It recognizes the dedicated and collaborative work between our doctors, patients, our quality improvement committee and staff over the last five years to improve the care and outreach to our patients with chronic health conditions.”
Since 2006, the Quality Improvement Department at Mills-Peninsula has provided doctors with regular reports of their patients who have poorly controlled diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. The reports detail what medications have been prescribed to the patients and whether they are filling their prescriptions. The doctors can then use these reports to remind patients either to fill their prescriptions or change their medication regimens, if the current medications are not controlling their health conditions adequately.
Cynthia Sevenants, a certified wellness coach at Mills-Peninsula, also reaches out to patients, helping them make the lifestyle changes necessary to improve their health. Sevenants provides ongoing coaching and support on dietary and exercise recommendations and helps patients understand the benefits of taking their medications.
“We know that patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease need long-term and ongoing support to help them successfully manage their health,” said Boyd. “This award validates our physicians’ and staff’s efforts and the positive impact of focusing on patients with chronic conditions to improve their health outcomes and prevent complications.”
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