U of Kansas makes stunning turnaround

It was kudos all around this week for the University of Kansas Hospital, which has gone from a state of financial and clinical crisis to being named as a top quality performer ranked with some of the top facilities in the country.  As of ten years ago, the hospital had abysmal patient satisfaction scores, rapidly falling patient volumes, rapid employee turnover and a fast-deteriorating financial situation.

Today, however, the hospital is ranked fifth place on rankings by the University HealthSystem Consortium, a group of 97 academic medical centers. That puts it on similar footing as marquee names like the Mayo Clinic and Brigham and Women's Hospital. The consortium ranked the hospital on about 40 measures of quality, reliance on best practices and efforts to cut care disparities among race, sex and economic status of patients.

While the forces behind the turnaround are complex, many observers say it began in earnest when hospital governance was moved outside of the medical school and into a new hospital governing authority stocked with professional managers. Also, once the hospital stepped out of the state university system, it was able to make much-needed capital investments.

To learn more about the U of K transformation:
- read this article from The Kansas City Star

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