Geisinger’s Cystic Fibrosis Center receives Quality Improvement Award
CF Foundation’s award recognizes centers that continuously work to improve patient care
DANVILLE, Pa. – Geisinger Medical Center’s pediatric and adult cystic fibrosis (CF) programs were both selected as 2023 recipients of the annual Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Quality Improvement Award for their work in improving patient care.
“It is a tremendous honor for our program’s quality improvement work to be recognized by the CF Foundation,” said Dr. Catherine Shoff, DO, director of the adult CF program and physician in pulmonary medicine. “This is a unique specialty we offer the community, and our CF program has evolved and continues to grow.”
To determine eligibility for the award, the CF Foundation committee visited Geisinger in the spring and reviewed the program’s performance standards. The committee looked at how the care team identified opportunities for improvement, the results of those efforts and how those efforts were aligned to improve clinical outcomes. They also looked for ways in which the care team involved patients and families in improvement efforts and how they employed innovative strategies to improve care processes and outcomes.
Some of the team’s work that was reviewed by the committee included improvements to sweat testing for patients and processes for screening and managing CF-related diabetes. Nutrition initiatives to increase patients’ body mass indexes to recommended ranges were also considered, as well as the creation of a transition process for pediatric patients into adult care. Most recently, the adult lung transplant team collaborated with a regional lung transplant program to develop a standardized process for lung transplant education and referral for patients with advanced CF lung disease.
The adult and pediatric CF programs were both granted full accreditation by the CF Foundation during the spring site visit. The reaccreditation is done every five years.
The Geisinger teams will be recognized as Quality Improvement Award recipients and will receive a plaque at the North American CF Conference in Phoenix on Nov. 4.
PHOTO CAPTION: Members of Geisinger’s Cystic Fibrosis Center include (back row, from left) Beth Ann Ritter, respiratory therapist; Erin Redding, pediatric and adult social worker; Heather Brosius, R.N., program coordinator; Sarah Pritt, Psy.D., psychologist; Cynthia Tsai, D.O., associate adult program director and pulmonologist; (front row, from left) Jessica Ehnot, pharmacist; Lyndell Wright, R.D.N., dietitian; Catherine Shoff, D.O., adult program director and pulmonologist.
About Geisinger
Geisinger is committed to making better health easier for the more than 1 million people it serves. Founded more than 100 years ago by Abigail Geisinger, the system now includes 10 hospital campuses, a health plan with more than half a million members, a research institute and the Geisinger College of Health Sciences, which includes schools of medicine, nursing and graduate education. With more than 25,000 employees and 1,700+ employed physicians, Geisinger boosts its hometown economies in Pennsylvania by billions of dollars annually. Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
