Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety
United Hospital Center
This is the sixth consecutive year that UHC has been ranked.
Bridgeport, W.Va. — The Society for Vascular Surgery’s Vascular Quality Initiative (SVS VQI) has awarded WVU Medicine United Hospital Center (UHC), three stars for its active participation in the SVS VQI Commitment to Vascular Quality Improvement (CVQI) Awards Program.
The mission of the SVS VQI is to improve patient safety and the quality of vascular care delivery by providing web-based collection, aggregation and analysis of clinical data submitted in registry format for all patients undergoing specific vascular treatments. The SVS VQI operates 14 vascular registries.
“UHC began participating in the VQI Registry to showcase the exemplary vascular services regionally provided by our vascular care team,” said David F. Hess, MD, CEO United Hospital Center, Regional President of the Central Region for West Virginia University Health System. “By continuing to utilize the VQI data to assess the ongoing effectiveness of our programs, UHC for the sixth consecutive year has been recognized.”
The CVQI Awards Program began in 2016 to encourage active participation in the registries program and recognize the importance of that participation.
President and CEO
United Hospital Center
Participating centers can earn up to three stars based on actions that lead to better patient care, including:
• The completeness of long-term, follow-up reporting, based on the percentage of patients for whom they have at least nine months of follow-up data
• Physician attendance at semi-annual meetings of a regional quality group
• Initiation of quality improvement activities based on VQI data
• The number of vascular registries in which the center participates
SVS VQI’s registries contain demographic, clinical, procedural and outcomes data from more than 1,000,000 vascular procedures performed in the United States, Canada and Singapore. Each record includes information from the patient’s initial hospitalization and one-year follow-up.
The wealth of data allows centers and providers to compare their performance to regional and national benchmarks. All centers and providers receive biannual dashboards and regular performance reports, so they can use their data to support quality improvement initiatives.
“Our vascular care team uses VQI data to measure the effectiveness of our programs and to improve our long-term patient care,” said Dr. Mark Povroznik, vice president of Quality and Patient Safety at UHC. “We are honored to be recognized again as a top performer.”
Biannual regional meetings allow physicians of different specialties, nurses, data managers, quality officers and others to meet, share information and ideas, and learn from each other in a positive and supportive environment. Members have used VQI data to significantly improve the delivery of vascular care at local, regional, and national levels, reducing complications and expenses.
“SVS VQI Commitment to Vascular Quality Improvement (CVQI) Awards Program centers such as UHC exemplify the dedication and collaboration needed to advance vascular care,” said Dr. Larry Kraiss, Medical Director. “Their commitment to consistent participation and high-quality data strengthens the VQI registries and enables meaningful research that drives improvement in patient outcomes. Measuring what we do—and learning from it—is essential to improving the care we provide to vascular patients.”
Operating under the Society for Vascular Surgery, the Vascular Quality Initiative is composed of 14 registries containing demographic, clinical, procedural and outcomes data from more than 1,000,000 vascular procedures performed nationwide and in Canada. The mission of VQI is to improve the quality, safety, effectiveness and cost of vascular healthcare.
