The TORCH Foundation and TORCH are pleased to host our 5th annual Rural Hospital Information Technology Conference on
October 20-21, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Austin
(map). We have an excellent program planned and invite everyone to attend this unique education event and
exhibition. Topics presented include:

• Keynote Address: Delivering on the Promise
• Rules of Engagement: Defining “Meaningful Use”
• Market Dynamics: Where Will You be in the “Buffet Line”
• Strategies to Effectively Secure, Manage and Protect Your Data
• Business Intelligence and Clinical Transformation
• Evaluation and Selection of EHRs
• Going LIVE: Achieving Successful Implementation
• The Art of the Deal: Mastering the Devil
• Technology and the Human Factor
• To Be or Not to Be: Hospital as Data Center and IT Shop
• Putting “IT” in Perspective

Plus, we have planned for an expanded tradeshow that will feature quality health IT/EHR products and solutions in the
marketplace. Also, there will be dedicated product demos to allow you the opportunity to see highlights of various EHR
systems.

Register before October 12, 2009
to receive the early-bird registration fee. Reserve your room before September 28, 2009 for the
special conference rate of $129/night (single/double).

Hope to see you all at HITCON/09! If you have questions, please contact Rose Valenzuela, Dawn Haberkorn or Quang Ngo at
(512) 873-0045, or email us at: hitconstaff@torchnet.org.

• 2009 HITCON Agenda
  [download pdf]
• 2009 HITCON Hospital Registration Form
  [download pdf]

Texas Hospitals Recognized for Quality of Care

AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–93 Texas hospitals will receive Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Awards this year, presented by TMF Health Quality Institute. The program evaluates a hospital’s performance improvement on specific national quality measures.

“As a nonprofit consulting company focused on promoting quality health and health care, TMF is proud to recognize these hospitals for promoting quality improvement activities and their senior management for promoting a quality culture,” said Tom Manley, CEO of TMF Health Quality Institute. “Quality improvement is a complex and demanding process and we thank all of these hospitals for their commitment to improving the health of Texans and the efficiency of health care in our state.”

The Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Awards honor Texas hospitals that are performing quality initiatives aimed at improving outcomes in patient care by recognizing those hospitals that have improved their performance on specific national quality measures.

The awards acknowledge hospitals for improving care related to acute myocardial infarction or AMI (heart attack), heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. These clinical areas have been designated as national health care priorities by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission, an independent, non-profit, standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.

A ceremony at the Hilton Austin Airport Hotel on August 27, 2009 will honor the 93 hospitals. The ceremony will feature special guest speaker Augie Garrido, University of Texas head baseball coach and the winningest coach in NCAA Division I baseball history.

Of 227 participating Texas hospitals, 27 met the criteria of the highest award, the Award of Excellence, and another 66 received the Quality Improvement Achievement Award. A list of the honored hospitals is provided below.

TMF Health Quality Institute, the Medicare quality improvement organization for Texas, established the awards program in partnership with The Texas Hospital Association, Texas Medical Association, Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals and Texas Osteopathic Medical Association.

The awards recognize hospitals that are active in quality improvement and have made the required improvement on a composite scoring system, called the appropriate care measure (ACM). For acute care hospitals, the ACM consists of 24 quality indicators: eight AMI, four heart failure, seven pneumonia and five surgical care measures. Critical access hospitals have an ACM score based on 11 quality indicators: four heart failure and seven pneumonia measures.

To qualify for an award, hospitals were required to collect data on the quality indicators for four quarters beginning with the first quarter of 2008. They then implemented process changes quarterly to improve their performance and remeasured at the end of the fourth quarter 2008, to see if they had maintained or improved their performance.

To earn the Award of Excellence, a hospital had to achieve or maintain performance between 90 and 100 percent on the appropriate care measure and had to have met all other requirements. To qualify for the Quality Improvement Achievement Award, a hospital had to attain a minimum 80 percent for the appropriate care measure and meet all other requirements.

Other requirements included passing validation of three quarters of data (quarters 1-3, 2008), having mortality scores within the projected range and submitting the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey (HCAHPS) data. (Data for mortality rates and HCAHPS are not available for critical access hospitals and, therefore, were not part of the awards criteria for these hospitals.)

For more information on the awards, see the TMF Health Quality Institute awards Web site at http://award.tmfhqi.net.

About TMF

TMF Health Quality Institute is an Austin-based, nonprofit consulting company focused on promoting quality health and health care through contracts with federal, state and local governments, as well as private organizations. TMF partners with health care providers in a variety of settings to ensure that every person receives the appropriate care, every time. www.tmf.org

Documents and/or Photos available for this release:

93 Texas Hospitals Receive Award for Quality of Care

To view supporting documents and/or photos, go to www.enr-corp.com/pressroom and enter Release ID: 217208

TMF Health Quality Institute
Emilie Fennell, 512-334-1649
VP, Communications
efennell@tmf.org