By David Ansell, MD, MPH
Chief medical officer
Senior vice president, clinical affairs

How do you tell if a hospital provides high-quality care or if staff members are following safe practices? It's difficult for you as a consumer of health care to know this just by looking at a brochure or a website. It's also difficult for consumers to make decisions about their health care just by looking at the recognition a hospital receives, because there are many accreditation agencies and many groups that provide recognition to hospitals. It's hard to tell about quality just by these reviews.

That's why we've put together this website to help consumers make sense of the many different factors that make up quality health care and to explain Rush's philosophy about what quality care means to us, which goes beyond standard measures such as clinical performance data and rankings.

Why communication matters

At Rush, we believe that quality starts with the doctor-patient relationship in which there is trust, transparency and clear two-way communication. We believe that the total patient experience is important and that the best quality of care is when the patient and doctor are satisfied with the outcome, when the patients and family are treated with courtesy and respect, and when they are back home safe and sound, surrounded by family and loved ones.

Rush is also committed to sharing our quality outcomes in a clear and understandable way. We hope that by sharing this information on our quality and safety record, you will be able to make better decisions about your health care to give you and your family peace of mind.

On this site, you can see the quality measurements we use to assess how we are doing. In addition, you will see some of the initiatives we are working on to continually improve the care we provide.

Rush's commitment to quality care: Our philosophy

At Rush, we believe that a high functioning health care team is critical to providing quality and safe care. From the admitting clerk to the nurse to the physician and the technical staff, we put the patient and family at the center of all we do. We commit not only to provide exemplary care but also to ensure that your transition in and out of the hospital or doctor's office goes smoothly and safely.

We believe in transparency. Transparency means that everyone  including patients, physicians and people in our community  should be able to receive information and judge for themselves whether the quality of care we are delivering is better, worse or similar to everyone else's.

We believe in full disclosure and having patients as our health care partners. We hope that everything goes right in your health care experience. But we know that sometimes things do not go as planned or hoped. We commit to speaking to you honestly and directly whether things go well or mistakes occur. And we commit to working with you to find the best solution to your health care needs.

We believe in continual improvement. Our efforts to improve quality go on every day, in all areas of the hospital, and we look to our patients and families to help us improve.