Seattle - Behind every successful patient and healthcare outcome is a healthcare system that is safe, timely, equitable, effective, efficient, and patient-centered. Qualis Health, a Seattle-based nonprofit healthcare quality improvement organization, will host its annual conference dedicated to sharing the latest insights and strategies with providers, payors, and healthcare policy leaders to improve healthcare quality in Washington state on July 18, 2006.

The conference, “Transformational Strategies for Quality Improvement in Healthcare,” takes place at the Bell Harbor Conference Center in Seattle from 7:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. For more information, visit www.qualishealth.org/transform.

Featured speakers will include: Steve Hill, of the Washington State Healthcare Authority, who will discuss strategies to reduce healthcare costs; Melanie Bella, of the Center for Health Care Strategies, who will discuss State Medicaid issues; and Group Health’s Paul Fishman, PhD, who will address the economic benefits of healthcare quality improvement. Other topics will include innovations in state healthcare, payor strategies for improving healthcare quality, the financial business case for health information technology, and emerging methodologies for healthcare performance improvement.

“Qualis Health is committed to facilitating meaningful discussion about improving the quality of healthcare and creating an environment conducive to collaboration,” said Jonathan Sugarman MD, MPH, president and CEO of Qualis Health. “This conference is one of the many ways we give providers in our state the opportunity to learn about groundbreaking innovations and strategies that will impact the quality of healthcare delivery for years to come.”

As part of the conference, Qualis Health will also recognize organizations from across the state that have applied innovative healthcare improvement strategies to make measurable improvements within their facilities, thereby enhancing regional healthcare. The organization will present its 2005 Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality at the beginning of the program.

Award recipients are Sound Family Medicine, of Puyallup, Wash., for their use of health information technology to improve hypertension care; Providence Hospice & Home Care, of Everett, Wash., for improvements made in wound care; Swedish Physicians, of Seattle, Wash., for improvements in diabetes management; Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, of Seattle, Wash., for improvements in Parenteral Nutrition and Northwest Kidney Centers, for improvements in correction of metabolic acidosis.

The organizations were nominated based on measurable improvements in healthcare quality. Winners were selected by an independent panel based on objective measurement of clinical outcomes and improvement data over the previous year.