The Technology Supporting Quality Initiatives at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC)

Summary: Robots -- dispensing meds in the pharmacy, assisting in the operating room, and even facilitating remote doctors' rounds -- is just one example of the technology supporting quality initiatives at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), explained Regina Berman, administrative director for performance improvement. As the top earner in the CMS/Premier Pay for Performance project for two years running, HUMC has seen a "reverse migration" of patients who used to head to New York for medical care, said Ms. Berman. Its bariatric surgery program draws patients from around the nation, and its cancer center 100 attracts new patients each week. Just 10 miles from the Big Apple, HUMC has been cited by Business Week magazine for its technology initiatives and by New York magazine as one of the top 10 hospitals where physicians would go for their own care. She attributes the success of HUMC to involvement and commitment of front-line staff. Jim Bente, Memorial's vice president of quality and organizational development, Berman, and Liz Popwell, Cleveland County Healthcare Systems' vice president of systems management gave us the inside details on how these hospitals have structured their internal processes to support an environment of performance improvement that has led to quality incentive payments from CMS under the Hospital Quality Improvement program during an April 18, 2007 audio conference, How to Structure a Healthcare Performance Improvement Process That Results in Incentive Payments.