EVERETT, Wash., Oct. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Everett Clinic, a DaVita Medical Group, division of DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) and a leading independent medical group in the United States, received the Washington State Medical Association's (WSMA) highest award for patient safety in the category of excellence for their chronic opioid therapy work during the organization's annual meeting on October 14, 2017.

In light of recent opioid-related news in Everett, The Everett Clinic is taking steps to address the opioid crisis. The Everett Clinic focuses its internal efforts on educating clinical staff on appropriate and safe opioid prescribing. The Everett Clinic is also identifying and helping manage populations that are at higher risk for adverse events, as well as promoting board and executive team education and successful local lobbying.

"We are honored to be recognized by the Washington State Medical Association in the collaborative effort to curb opioid abuse within our community," said Dr. Kent Hu, associate director of quality and safety at The Everett Clinic. "We truly believe that we are doing innovative, and most importantly, patient-centric work that honors our commitment to addressing the opioid issues our community is facing."

The WSMA established the William O. Robertson Patient Safety Award to recognize and share innovative patient safety initiatives in the ambulatory care setting. The award was named after WSMA Past-President William O. Robertson, MD, who was a champion for patient safety, risk management and quality improvement throughout his career.

"We have found The Everett Clinic's commitment to improving the opioid epidemic in this community to be innovative and effective in improving patient safety and quality of care," said Donna Smith, MD and president of WSMA. "We are proud to present this organization with our esteemed patient safety award and look forward to seeing how their success continues to drive positive change."

The Everett Clinic's internal efforts to curb unsafe opioid prescribing have been very successful; the number of clinical staff adhering to safe opioid best practices guidelines has increased over 45 percent year-to-date, illustrating the organization's dedication to the issue. The internal measures are based on best practice criteria for safe opioid prescribing and include seven individual elements derived from Washington State regulationsⁱ, including pain score, pain inference score, opioid risk tool, morphine equivalent dose, urine drug screen, prescription monitoring program and opioid contract/agreement.ⁱⁱ Each must be assessed for each patient identified as a chronic opioid user.

About DaVita Medical Group
DaVita Medical Group is a division of DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500® company, that operates and manages medical groups and affiliated physician networks in California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington. A leading independent medical group in America, DaVita Medical Group has over two decades of experience providing coordinated, outcomes-based medical care in a cost-effective manner. DaVita Medical Group's teammates, employed clinicians and affiliated clinicians provided care for approximately 1.7 million patients. For more information, please visit DaVitaMedicalGroup.com.

About DaVita Inc.
DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500® company, is the parent company of DaVita Kidney Care and DaVita Medical Group. DaVita Kidney Care is a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, delivering dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. As of June 30, 2017, DaVita Kidney Care operated or provided administrative services at 2,445 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 194,600 patients. The company also operated 217 outpatient dialysis centers located in 11 countries outside the United States. DaVita Medical Group manages and operates medical groups and affiliated physician networks in California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington in its pursuit to deliver excellent-quality health care in a dignified and compassionate manner. DaVita Medical Group's teammates, employed clinicians and affiliated clinicians provided care for approximately 1.7 million patients. For more information, please visit DaVita.com/About.

Contact Information

Media:

Jessica Geurkink
(720) 925-3184
Jessica.Geurkink@davita.com         

ⁱ Washington State Department of Health. Opioid Prescribing. Retrieved from https://www.doh.wa.gov/ForPublicHealthandHealthcareProviders/HealthcareProfessionsandFacilities/OpioidPrescribing

ⁱⁱ Agency Medical Directors' Group (2010). Interagency Guideline on Opioid Dosing for Chronic Non-cancer Pain: An educational aid to improve care and safety with opioid therapy. Retrieved from http://www.agencymeddirectors.wa.gov/files/opioidgdline.pdf

SOURCE The Everett Clinic