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August 8, 2018 – St. Luke’s Cancer Center has received five awards from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality.

“We are proud of these awards because they recognize our commitment to quality health care,” said Nicholas Taylor, MD, Chairman of Oncology at St. Luke’s. “It is our number one priority to ensure that all our cancer patients receive the best care possible at the right time.”

The awards St. Luke’s Cancer Center received are for Patient Centered, Coordinated Care and are Level 3, the highest level possible. To qualify for the awards, St. Luke’s had to demonstrate that it streamlines referral processes and care coordination with referring clinicians, offers timely patient and caregiver-focused care management, and implements continuous clinical quality improvement practices, all of which make it easier for patients to receive care.

The NCQA presented St. Luke’s administrators with framed awards.

“Clearly, these awards show that we have high-quality, patient-centered cancer care that is recognized at a national level,” said Michael Rinker, Administrative Director - Oncology Service Line at St. Luke's.

Media Contact:

Sam Kennedy, Corporate Communications Director, 484-526-4134, samuel.kennedy@sluhn.org

About NCQA

NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of 14,000 employees providing services at 10 hospitals and over 300 outpatient sites.  With annual net revenue of $1.9 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.  Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.  In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first and only regional medical school campus.  It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 28 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 226 residents and fellows.  St. Luke’s is the only health care system in central-eastern Pennsylvania to earn Medicare’s five-star rating (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.  St. Luke’s has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health (formerly Truven Health Analytics) repeatedly – six times total and four years in a row including 2018.  It has also been cited by IBM Watson Health as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Program.  Utilizing the EPIC electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.  St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.