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For Immediate Release

For more information, contact:
Gloria O'Connell, 612-863-4801

Allina Hospitals & Clinics makes clinical quality and patient satisfaction data easy to find
Allina.com/quality helps patients make informed decisions about their health and health care

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. 10/14/2008--People who want to know how Allina Hospitals & Clinics measures up on patient care, safety and satisfaction can find out on www.allina.com/quality.

This new section of Allina's public website provides accurate and timely clinical outcomes data, as well as data about patient safety and satisfaction. People can access the information from anywhere on www.allina.com by selecting About Allina, then How are we doing?

"There is a growing demand for quality and comparative data," said Penny Wheeler, MD, chief clinical officer of Allina Hospitals & Clinics. "Today, fully 64 percent of consumers are using the Internet to look for information about the quality of hospital care."

Tracking and sharing this data also improves care, Wheeler adds. "Our patients deserve nothing less than optimal care, and our continued focus will help to achieve this. I look forward to seeing our scores continue to improve as we refine our care model and continue to share knowledge."

The new pages at www.allina.com/quality contain performance data in these categories:

• Staying healthy includes data on the performance of Allina Medical Clinic on optimal care measures related to well-child visits or checkups, treating colds and sore throats, and screening women for chlamydia.
• Living with illness and disability includes data on the percentage of Allina Medical Clinic patients receiving optimal treatment for depression, diabetes and vascular disease.
• Getting better includes individual Allina hospital performance data on the hospital core measures for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.
• Keeping you safe includes information on efforts to ensure safe surgeries, prevent falls, and promote hourly rounding at Allina's hospitals.
• Patient satisfaction shows how patients answered survey questions about their hospital stays or clinic visits.

The information not only illustrates how Allina is doing against its own care goals, but also provides context that can help patients more effectively manage their own health. For example, the section on optimal diabetes care includes links to resources to help diabetes patients effectively manage their condition.

About Allina Hospitals & Clinics

Allina Hospitals & Clinics is a not-for-profit family of hospitals, clinics and other care services dedicated to meeting the lifelong health care needs of communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. As they deliver exceptional health care and support services, our more than 23,000 employees, 5,000 physicians and 2,500 volunteers share a common mission, vision and values.