Newswise — New Brunswick, NJ—The Cystic Fibrosis Center at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital has been selected by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) for the foundation’s prestigious Quality Care Award for 2012-2013. Instituted in 2008, CFF’s Quality Care Awards recognize centers that have continuously demonstrated a commitment to improving the quality of care they provide to people with cystic fibrosis (CF). According to the CFF, the Cystic Fibrosis Center and the five other honorees excelled at meeting the following quality improvement performance standards:· Actively using clinical outcomes data to identify opportunities for improvement and documenting results of improvement efforts.· Aligning improvement efforts to result in measureable improvement in important clinical outcomes.· Consistently and actively involving patients and families in identifying, designing and/or implementing improvement efforts.· Employing innovative strategies to improve care processes and outcomes.· Implementing system changes that result in high reliability of care process. “Over the years, we have had the privilege of helping many families and patients successfully cope with the challenges presented by CF,” says Dr. Thomas F. Scanlin, professor of pediatrics, chief of the division of pediatric pulmonology and cystic fibrosis, and director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. The Cystic Fibrosis Center has been consistently ranked among the best programs in the nation for lung function and nutrition status in individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF). It is one of only three level III CF centers in the state that is accredited by the CF Foundation. The center’s Adult CF Program, accredited by the foundation in 2007, is one of only 96 accredited programs nationwide serving adults with CF. “Our center works continually to improve the quality of care we provide and the satisfaction of our patients, all within a multidisciplinary, patient-centered framework that helps patients and families get more engaged in their healthcare and work together to resolve barriers to treatment. We are honored the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has recognized us for these efforts and are committed to even further advancements in care, teaching, and research in CF,” Dr. Scanlin says. CFF’s Quality Care Award was presented in conjunction with the 27th annual American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Salt Lake City in November. Additional information about the foundation and the Quality Care Award is available at www.cff.org. About Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical SchoolAs one of the nation's leading comprehensive medical schools, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the medical school's principal affiliate, comprise one of the nation's premier academic medical centers. In addition, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 34 other hospital affiliates and ambulatory care sites throughout the region.

Part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School encompasses 20 basic science and clinical departments, hosts centers and institutes including The Cardiovascular Institute, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. The medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels on its campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway and provides continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs. To learn more about Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, visit rwjms.rutgers.edu. Find us online at www.facebook.com/RWJMedicalSchool and www.twitter.com/RWJMS.

About Robert Wood Johnson University HospitalRobert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) is a 600-bed academic medical center, which is the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the principal hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J. Robert Wood Johnson is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, and women’s and children’s care, including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). The hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center and serves as a national resource in its groundbreaking approaches to emergency preparedness. The hospital has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety. RWJUH has been ranked among the best hospitals in America by U.S.News & World Report six times and has been selected by the publication as a high-performing hospital in several specialties. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital has also ranked among the nation’s Best Children’s Hospitals by U.S.News & World Report for two consecutive years. The American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer has rated RWJ among the nation’s best comprehensive cancer centers, and the hospital’s Comprehensive Stroke Center is certified by the Joint Commission to provide complex stroke care. The Leapfrog Group rated RWJUH as one of the 50 exceptional U.S. hospitals, as published in Consumers Digest magazine, and has given the hospital an “A” grade for safety and quality. Harvard University researchers, in a study commissioned by The Commonwealth Fund, identified RWJUH as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for clinical quality. RWJUH is also a four-time recipient of the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence. Visit RWJUH online at www.rwjuh.edu.

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