ANN ARBOR, MI — (Marketwired) — 05/29/13 — , a leading provider of real-time healthcare analytics, today announced that the (MiBOQI) selected its fully integrated, cloud-based registry and analytics solution to replace its legacy system. The 26-hospital Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI) will implement ArborMetrix-s technology to improve quality, safety, outcomes and effectiveness of breast cancer treatment across Michigan.
“When our existing vendor discontinued its product, it gave us the perfect opportunity to seek a more advanced, powerful and sophisticated solution,” said Samuel Silver, M.D., Ph.D., project director at MiBOQI and assistant dean for research and professor of internal medicine/hematology-oncology at the University of Michigan Medical School. “After thoroughly evaluating half a dozen companies, we selected ArborMetrix because of their successful track record in converting and customizing legacy data. They offer the most proven, powerful, configurable and flexible tool, and they-re willing and able to modify our database on demand. The fact that Dr. John Birkmeyer [the company-s founder and Chief Scientific Officer] is a renowned quality and outcomes improvement researcher was one more factor that made it attractive for us to partner with them.”
Unlike guidelines for other medical conditions, protocols for breast cancer change frequently due to new discoveries and medications. The 26 hospitals and 420 medical, surgical and radiation oncologists that participate in MiBOQI follow nationally accepted guidelines from the ® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 23 of the world-s leading cancer centers. Over the first four-and-a-half months of 2013, NCCN has revised its breast cancer guidelines three times. In comparison, other organizations tend to issue guidelines every three years.
“I expect NCCN to release three additional versions by yearend,” said Dr. Silver, who is NCCN-s Chair. “ArborMetrix will allow MiBOQI not only to keep pace with NCCN but analyze our data more expeditiously to measure and report on clinical performance; improve breast cancer diagnosis and care; identify and determine best practices; and ensure adherence to evidence-based guidelines. It will facilitate a more rapid learning cycle, positioning MiBOQI to deliver actionable information to physicians much sooner than we could before, helping them enhance care and save more lives.”
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths and is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among Michigan women, according to the American Cancer Society.
MiBOQI, a CQI sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network, has been tracking data of 25,000 women with breast cancer since its founding in 2006.
“We have been very impressed by ArborMetrix-s quality of service, professionalism and efficiency,” said Dr. Silver. “Within three weeks of signing the contract, they transitioned and converted our breast cancer patients- data and held a kick-off informational session that was well received by physicians.”
MiBOQI will go live with ArborMetrix this summer.
“Hospitals today are under continuous pressure to deliver high-quality care at lower cost,” said Brett Furst, CEO of ArborMetrix. “We are pleased Michigan Breast Oncology Quality Initiative chose us to navigate that challenge and look forward to supporting their efforts to provide state-of-the-art breast cancer treatment throughout Michigan.”
With financial support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) and Blue Care Network (BCN), the Michigan Breast Oncology Quality Initiative (MiBOQI) was launched in 2006 to improve the quality and safety of breast cancer treatment and outcomes. The BCBSM/BCN-sponsored 26-hospital Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI) is the first statewide effort to examine practice patterns in surgical, radiation, and medical oncology in Michigan. For more information, visit .
, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is a healthcare analytics and software firm specializing in quality measurement, cost-efficiency and performance improvement for surgical and other acute hospital and specialty-based care. The company focuses on developing rigorous data analysis and actionable business intelligence solutions that raise the bar on quality, performance, utilization and cost-efficiency for hospitals, health systems, specialty societies, quality collaboratives and health plans. ArborMetrix-s unique, cloud-based technology evolved from groundbreaking research by the company founders on improving the quality of surgical care and econometric performance measurement. For more information, visit , email or call 734-661-7944, ext. 7008.
Amendola Communications for Jan Shulman
480.664.8412 ext. 12
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