The safety of our patients is a central concern to us at El Camino Hospital, and a big part of our overall commitment to delivering the highest quality of care. We have taken this commitment and established the APEX Quality Institute. We are also committed to transparency in the community and to sharing with our neighbors an honest look at how we are doing.

APEX stands for:

• Analytics
• Performance
• Excellence

Analytics

In partnership with Microsoft and through a significant investment in information technology infrastructure, we are taking a close look at key measures and indicators that determine when we are performing well and where we need to make improvements.

Performance

Every quarter, starting in 2009, we will issue a community report card on how we are doing. This will help us define where we need to focus resources for improvement and what are models for how to do things right.

Excellence

Most hospitals say they are excellent. We want to prove it, using national guidelines and standards, as well as benchmarks against similar hospitals across the country.

To call this a quality improvement program is an understatement. Our goal is to be in the top five percent of all U.S. hospitals by 2012, across a comprehensive array of measures.