06/06/2006 - WYOMING COUNTY HOME HEALTH AGENCY REWARDED FOR QUALITY EFFORTS

Awardee Contact:

Lori Roche, Director of Nursing

(585) 786-8838

IPRO Contact:

Spencer Vibbert/Barbara Schwartz

(516) 326-7767

Wyoming County Home Health Agency Rewarded for Quality Efforts
Receives IPRO's "2006 Quality Award for Outstanding Performance"

(Warsaw, NY, June 6, 2006) - Wyoming County Health Department Certified Home Health Agency (Warsaw, New York) has been named as a recipient of this year's "Quality Award." The Quality Awards, given annually by IPRO, New York State's Medicare Quality Improvement Organization, recognize home health agencies, hospitals and other health care providers demonstrating a commitment to improving health care services in the state.

"Wyoming County Home Health Agency has shown that a collaborative, focused effort can lead to real improvements in the quality of care delivered to New York's Medicare beneficiaries," says Clare B. Bradley MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, IPRO. "Quality improvement is a complex and time-consuming process, and we thank Wyoming County Home Health Agency for their commitment to the health of New Yorkers."

In conferring the award at IPRO's 22nd Annual Membership Meeting on June 6, Dr. Bradley noted that Wyoming County Home Health Agency received the award because of "their ongoing collaboration with IPRO and their commitment to performance improvement initiatives. These efforts have resulted in their attaining the highest relative improvement of all New York State home health agencies for reduction of avoidable acute care hospitalizations, as well as improvement in of patient outcome measures in the areas of management of dyspnea / shortness of breath and discharge of patients who remain at home after an episode of home care."

From Gregory Collins, DO, Commissioner of Public Health: "The Certified Home Health Agency is a great source of pride for the Wyoming County Health Department. All staff members have contributed to the success of the agency; their individual professional abilities, willingness to work together and commitment to provide for the needs of our community members have brought the agency to this point. The 2006 IPRO Quality Award is a credit to their ongoing efforts."

IPRO is an independent not-for-profit corporation and one of the largest health care quality improvement and evaluation entities in the United States. Visit www.ipro.org for more information.

For additional information on available services, contact the Wyoming County Health Department Certified Home Health Agency at (585) 786-8838.