Among the Best Patient Care in Northern California Provided by Medical Groups with Sutter Health

One-Third of Top Groups in Northern California are Affiliated with Sutter Health

SACRAMENTO, Calif. October 5, 2006 – Five medical groups that are affiliated or aligned with Sutter Health have received a prestigious quality award from the prominent California health care leadership group, the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA).

The recognitions are part of the IHA's annual Pay for Performance (P4P) report card, and nearly one third of the top medical groups in Northern California are with the Sutter Health network.

The winners are:

• Camino Medical Group in Santa Clara county, affiliated with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation
• Mills-Peninsula Medical Group in San Mateo county, aligned IPA
• Palo Alto Medical Clinic in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda counties, affiliated with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation
• Sutter Medical Group in Sacramento and Placer counties, affiliated with the Sutter Medical Foundation
• Sutter West Medical in Yolo county, affiliated with the Sutter Medical Foundation

"The results of this report card demonstrate the dedication of our Sutter Health physicians to partnering with patients to consistently improve patient satisfaction and advance the quality of care provided by our network," said Gordon Hunt, M.D., chief medical officer for Sutter Health.

Medical groups, which participate in the IHA program, are scored on a series of quality benchmarks including preventive care and chronic care management, patient satisfaction, and use of information technology to support patient management and care.

Consumer expectations of health care are changing. Patients are now actively searching for more detailed information about their doctors and hospitals. Report cards such as this are one tool patients are using to help make more educated decisions about their health care.

"Sutter Health is committed to openly sharing information about the quality of health care provided by our system and our affiliates are proud that they were among the first health care providers in California to participate in these types of report cards," added Dr. Hunt. "We are always looking for ways to enhance the quality of care we provide to patients. This recognition not only demonstrates the success of our ongoing efforts but encourages us to work even harder to advance quality across our network."

According to the IHA, California's P4P program is the nation's largest, involving approximately 40,000 physicians in 228 physician organizations.

The P4P results are available at http://www.IHA.org

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Media Contacts
Karen Garner
Communications Director
(916) 286-8297
garnerk@sutterhealth.org

Kami Lloyd
Communications Coordinator
(916) 286-6680
lloydk@sutterhealth.org