Whidbey General Hospital clinics have been ranked among the top three along the Interstate 5 corridor, with Seattle and Bellingham clinics.
The clinics, including the South Whidbey Healthcare Clinic in Freeland, the Whidbey Community Physicians in Oak Harbor and the South Whidbey Community Clinic in Clinton, have collectively received this high ranking after working with Group Health to achieve the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Triple Aim score.
Triple Aim is the goal of improving the health of the community, enhancing the patient experience of care (including quality, access and reliability) and reducing the cost per capita of care, according to the IHI website.
“The rankings mean that our providers are successfully advocating important screenings and other forms of preventive care,” said Teresa Fulton, the hospital’s quality control officer, in an email to the newspaper. “Our patients receive care that not only addresses whatever brought them into the clinic that day, but also identifies important interventions for long-term health and well being.”
According to Fulton, the clinics ranked above their peers — the number of which Fulton says is confidential, as per the project organizers’ rules — in preventive measures, including cervical, colorectal and breast cancer screenings, well-child visits for patients ages 3 to 6, and child access care for patients ages 7 to 11.
Fulton said Whidbey General Hospital clinics also ranked “at or above our peer group” in managing chronic diseases like diabetes.
“In addition,” Fulton wrote, “we are in the upper 10 percent of clinics reducing the cost of care through use of generic medication.”
Keith Mack, the public relations liaison for the hospital, said these rankings mean “our clinic providers are proactive advocates for better health in our community.”
“If you do not measure quality, you don’t know where and how to improve,” Fulton said. “We measure our baseline results, develop intervention strategies and constantly measure results so we can improve both access and quality of care on Whidbey.”
Because they’re constantly updating results, the clinics have the chance to rank even higher.
Starting in January 2015, the hospital will be including the North Whidbey Community Clinic in the project, as well.
In the meantime, Fulton said, “Results are being shared with clinic providers, who are developing strategies to provide as many community members as possible with care that meets the IHI Triple Aim.”
