News Release

October 24, 2006

Contact: Kristina Goodnough, 860-679-3700
e-mail: goodnough@nso.uchc.edu

UConn Health Center Recognized for Superior Heart Attack Care

Farmington, Conn. - John Dempsey Hospital at UConn Health Center has been recognized for superior outcomes in the use of angioplasty and stents to unblock narrowed coronary arteries in patients with myocardial infarction by CareScience, a company that provides care management services for hospitals.

“Our constant focus on improving care to patients is reflected in this recognition,” says Bruce Liang, M.D., director of the Calhoun Cardiology Center. “Acutely ill patients with myocardial infarction require a dedicated, high quality and experienced team of health care providers. Our quality improvement efforts help ensure we have just such a team,” says Michael Azrin, M.D., director of the catheterization lab in the Calhoun Cardiology Center.

John Dempsey Hospital is one of 37 hospitals nationwide to be named a 2006 National Quality Leader in the treatment of myocardial infarction with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or the use of angioplasty and stents.

CareScience identified JDH as a 2006 National Quality Leader through its Select Practice Methodology which uses both quality and efficiency measures to rank hospital performance. The CareScience model for quality of care is measured by the incidence of three outcomes: mortality, morbidity and complications, which are combined into a single quality measure to rank a hospital’s quality of care for patient populations with various health conditions.

Last year, the Health Center received high marks for its treatment of patients admitted for heart attack or heart failure on hospital performance data collected by the federal Department of Health and Human Services under a program called Hospital Compare, which is designed to improve hospital performance over time and give consumers a way to compare hospital quality.

The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, John Dempsey Hospital, the UConn Medical Group and University Dentists. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. To learn more about the UConn Health Center, visit our website at www.uchc.edu.

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