STAR Health Center Receives Quality of Care Award
Oct 14, 2011
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University’s STAR Health Center is the recipient of
the 2011 National Quality Center Quality of Care Award for Quality Improvement Activities.
STAR Health Center’s medical director, Jayashree Ravishankar, MD, MPH, recently accepted
the award at the National Quality Center’s Steering Committee meeting in Washington,
DC.
The STAR Health Center offers specialized care for HIV disease, hepatitis C infection,
and substance abuse to the people of Central Brooklyn, and received the award for
significant advances in care for HIV-infected patients with co-morbidities. The National
Quality Center provides technical assistance to all Ryan White Program-funded grantees
to improve the quality of HIV care nationwide. It is funded by the U.S. Health Resources
and Services Administration HIV/AIDS Bureau through a cooperative agreement with the
New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute.
Dr. Ravishankar said, “Since HIV infection has largely become a manageable, chronic
disease, we have seen an increase in illnesses associated with aging in HIV patients.
An effort to improve the management of these co-morbidities was the obvious next step.”
“Primary care indicators were added to our quality management program, focusing on
diabetes and cardiovascular risk assessment in people with HIV, and we saw significant
improvements in these important clinical areas,” she explained. In review of the
12-month period, diabetes care improved across all parameters. Diabetes evaluation
using the A1C test increased from 56% to 75%, while use of aspirin to lower the risk
of heart attack and stroke, statin drugs to lower cholesterol, and medications to
lower blood pressure increased to 100%.
The STAR Health Center’s healthcare providers reported increased confidence in managing
diabetes. Dr. Ravishankar added, “This success reinforced their interest to include
other primary care indicators and to increase the use of clinical care pathways for
the management of hypertension and other chronic diseases affecting their patients.”
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.