Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force Announced Members of Chicago Breast Cancer Quality ...( 75 Percent of Hospitals and Medical...),Health

75 Percent of Hospitals and Medical Centers in Cook and Collar Counties Take Bold Step of Sharing Quality Data to Improve Breast Cancer Screening and Treatment

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CHICAGO, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force has announced the 56 participating hospitals, medical centers and mammography providers that are partnering to share quality data in order to identify deficits and implement strategies to improve breast cancer screening and treatment and reduce breast cancer mortality disparities. The Task Force made the announcement at its third annual Report Back to the Community at St. Paul Church of God in Christ, a prominent African-American church on Chicago's South Side.

This represents 75 percent of all hospitals in Metropolitan Chicago, and 80 percent of the mammography screenings provided by hospitals, including academic medical centers and nearly all safety-net institutions. The initiative is an unprecedented level of cooperation by providers in a voluntary quality improvement project and represents a major commitment by healthcare organizations to eliminating breast cancer mortality disparities in Chicago.

The Chicago Breast Cancer Quality Consortium project, funded through a $1 million grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, has been designated as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The PSO is the first in the nation to be dedicated exclusively to improving breast health care and one of only a handful of PSOs in the country actively working on a project.

"Previously, it was difficult for healthcare organizations to share quality and outcomes data and talk across institutions," said Dr.
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