May 28, 2010
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Recognizes Three Network Hospitals For Quality, Excellence Through National Blue Distinction® Program
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas is pleased to announce that three hospitals in its network are the first in its service area to earn designations as part of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s expansion of its Blue Distinction program, according to Andrew C. Corbin, BCBSKS president/CEO.
Labette Health, Parsons, has been designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip ReplacementSM.
St. Francis Health Center, Topeka, has been designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement and a Blue Distinction Center for Spine SurgerySM.
Stormont-Vail HealthCare, Topeka, has been designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery and a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement.
“Earning the Blue Distinction designation takes a tremendous commitment to evidence-based health and medical information, and superior patient outcomes,” Corbin said, noting that Labette, St. Francis and Stormont-Vail are the only hospitals in the company’s 103-county service area which have successfully gone through the rigors of achieving such designation. “To earn this designation, these hospitals met clinically validated quality standards and delivered better overall outcomes in patient care.”
The selection criteria used to evaluate facilities were developed with input from a panel of expert physicians. To be designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement or a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery, the following types of criteria were evaluated:
The Blue Distinction designation is awarded by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies to medical facilities that have demonstrated expertise in delivering quality health care in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacement, spine surgery and transplants. The program is part of The Blues® efforts to collaborate with physicians and medical facilities to improve the overall quality and safety of specialty care.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BCBSKS is the state's largest health insurer, serving all Kansas counties except Johnson and Wyandotte.
About Labette Health
Located in the heart of southeast Kansas, Labette Health is a 109-bed acute, intensive and skilled care hospital situated at the southern edge of Parsons, a community of 12,000 residents. Serving a six-county area since 1961, Labette Health has earned recognition as a respected regional medical center renowned for its comprehensive health care services, skilled and caring employees, state-of-the-art medical technology and equipment, and dedicated and talented medical staff.
About St. Francis Health Center
A nonprofit Catholic health care provider in the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, St. Francis Health Center embodies a diverse and caring community dedicated to improving the health and welfare of others. St. Francis employees have provided innovative, inspired service for nearly a century to care for thousands of patients and their families with the same spirit and resolve demonstrated by the resourceful sisters who opened the facility on Oct. 17, 1909. Today the Health Center has 378 licensed beds, a medical staff representing nearly all specialties, adult and youth volunteers and a thriving auxiliary.
Skillfully integrating technology with tenderness, St. Francis and its employees have fostered a premier regional hospital featuring the newest medical innovations and state-of-the-art equipment.
About Stormont-Vail HealthCare
Stormont-Vail HealthCare is an integrated health care system that has been serving the health care needs of northeast Kansas for more than 125 years. It is comprised of Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center, a 586-bed acute care hospital, and the Cotton-O'Neil Clinic, a multi-specialty physician group with 191 physicians. More than 4,000 employees provide care and support services for patients in the hospital and 27 other locations, including the Cotton-O'Neil Heart Center, Cancer Center, Diabetes and Endocrinology Center, Digestive Health Center, the PediatricCare clinic and multiple regional primary care clinics. Stormont-Vail HealthCare is committed to its mission of improving the health of the community by providing high quality, compassionate care with state-of-the-art equipment in convenient, comfortable facilities for patients and families.
Note: Designation as Blue Distinction Centers® means these facilities’ overall experience and aggregate data met objective criteria established in collaboration with expert clinicians’ and leading professional organizations’ recommendations. Individual outcomes may vary. To find out which services are covered under your policy at any facilities, please call your local Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan. Please call your provider before making an appointment, to verify the most current information on their network participation status. Neither the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any of its Licensees are responsible for any damages, losses or non-covered charges that may result from using these materials or receiving care from a provider not listed in these materials.
For more information, please contact:
Mary Beth Chambers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, (785) 291-8869
Larry Goldsmith, Labette Health, (620) 820-5512
Laurie Harrison, St. Francis Health Center, (785) 295-8932
Nancy Burkhardt, Stormont-Vail HealthCare, (785) 354-6927
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