John E. Wennberg, M.D., M.P.H., Earns
The Joint Commission’s 2007 Ernest Amory Codman Award
(OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. – November 6, 2007) The Joint Commission today recognized John E. Wennberg, M.D., M.P.H., for his leadership role in using outcomes measures to improve health care quality and safety by naming him the recipient of the 2007 Ernest Amory Codman Award in the individual category.
Dr. Wennberg’s pioneering research of the past 30 years has focused on regional variations in medical care, outcomes of medical treatment and shared decision-making. He was among the first researchers to document that variations in medical treatment patterns affect the cost and quality of patient care and are due primarily to physician treatment styles. Dr. Wennberg helped shape the legislation that established the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research - now known as the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ) - by attracting Congressional attention to outcomes research. The results of his research have led policymakers, health care providers and consumers to more closely examine the appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of patient care.
“We are pleased to recognize the 2007 Codman Award recipients for their innovative approaches and commitment to using performance measurement to improve the quality and safety of health care,” says Dennis S. O'Leary, M.D., president, The Joint Commission. “Their achievements demonstrate the progress that can be made when performance measurement leads to meaningful practices that benefit patients.”
Named for the physician regarded in health care as the “father of outcomes measurement,” the Ernest Amory Codman Award showcases the effective use of performance measurement by health care organizations to improve the quality and safety of health care. The Joint Commission also recognizes an individual who has played a significant leadership role in promoting the use of performance measures to improve health care services, or who has made major contributions to the development and testing of performance measures or the science and art of quality improvement. A panel of national experts in quality measurement and improvement selected the seven recipients of the 2007 Awards.
“Dr. Wennberg’s analyses of health care performance to improve quality are an exemplar for our nation,” says Thomas A. Colacchio, M.D., president, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic. “His analysis of practice patterns to measure our nation’s health have had a dramatic influence on health care delivery and public policy throughout the United States and, in fact, the world.”
Dr. Wennberg has been instrumental in developing programs aimed at narrowing variations in medical care delivery. With colleague Dr. Alan Gittelsohn, Dr. Wennberg developed a method of determining population-based rates for the utilization and distribution of health care services. This method, called small area analysis and first published in 1973, revealed large variations in health care usage among different areas. Work to uncover the reasons behind these variations led Dr. Wennberg and his colleagues to develop techniques to document the results of common medical practices, a strategy that came to be called outcomes research. This research has demonstrated remarkable variations in important aspects of health care use, such as the number of hospital beds and physicians per capita, and the rates of hospital use and of specific surgical procedures. His latest work has focused on the use of patient decision aids to help patients understand their treatment options and participate in medical decision making. Dr. Wennberg is also the founding editor of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.
Dr. Wennberg is the Peggy Y. Thomson Chair in the Evaluative Clinical Sciences and Director Emeritus of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. He has been a Professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine (Epidemiology) since 1980 and in the Department of Medicine since 1989. Dr. Wennberg received his medical degree from McGill University School of Medicine and his master of public health degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.
Dr. Wennberg’s work will be formally honored on November 12, during The Joint Commission and Joint Commission Resources’ Annual Conference on Quality and Safety in Chicago.
Additional award recipients in the following categories are:
· Behavioral Health Care: Addiction Treatment Services of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland.
· Hospital: Broward General Medical Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Christiana Care Health Services, Wilmington, Delaware; and Saint Joseph Healthcare, Lexington, Kentucky.
· Long Term Care: Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home, Staten Island, New York.
· Multiple Organization: Seton Family of Hospitals, Austin, Texas.