News
Premier healthcare alliance and Texas Health Resources recognize Rep. Pete Sessions for his efforts to improve patient care while safely reducing costs
Congressman’s work leads to passing of law requiring unique medical device identification system in hospitals
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Linda Rouse, Premier; Blair Childs, Premier; U.S. Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX); David Tesmer, Texas Health Resources; Margaret Reagan, Premier (L to R) |
The Premier healthcare alliance and Texas Health Resources (THR) today honored U.S. Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) for his outstanding leadership in advancing legislation to improve the quality of healthcare.
David Tesmer, senior vice president of advocacy and community benefit for THR, and Blair Childs, senior vice president of public affairs for Premier, presented the “Healthcare Transformation Award” to Rep. Sessions in Washington, DC. The award recognizes members of Congress for their efforts to advance legislation to improve healthcare quality while safely reducing costs.
“I am honored to receive the Healthcare Transformation Award from Premier and Texas Health Resources,” stated Sessions. “I thank them for their invaluable support as I have worked with my colleagues to implement a national unique device identification (UDI) system for medical devices.”
“By utilizing innovative solutions that meet the unique needs of a 21st century health care system, this national UDI system will not only greatly improve patient safety, but also lead to greater efficiency within our nation’s health care system,” Sessions concluded.
Congress passed and President Bush signed into law on September 27 legislation that includes a provision requiring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to put into place a unique medical device identification system to expedite and increase the reliability of medical device recalls and reduce healthcare costs. Rep. Sessions was instrumental in garnering the support of his U.S. House of Representatives colleagues to include legislative language on unique device identification in the final bill that was approved by Congress and signed by the president.
“We applaud Representative Sessions for his instrumental role in moving legislation through Congress that will help hospitals more efficiently track medical devices,” said David Tesmer. “Patient safety and quality of care are top priorities for Texas Health Resources, and we believe a unique identification system will help our hospitals and caregivers improve both safety and quality.”
“Representative Sessions has been a true leader in advancing legislation to improve patient safety while safely reducing costs,” said Childs. “As a result of Representative Sessions’ work, Congress addressed the urgent need for a uniform numbering system, known as unique device identification, that will enable bar coding and other electronic tracking systems for medical devices. This step will help improve patient safety, reduce medical errors, enhance medical device recall processes and improve device adverse event reporting.”
About Texas Health Resources
Texas Health Resources is one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit
health care delivery systems in the United States and the largest in North
Texas in terms of patients served. THR controls 13 affiliated hospitals and
a medical research organization, and is a corporate member or partner in
seven additional hospitals and surgery centers. THR’s family of hospitals
includes Harris Methodist Hospitals, Arlington Memorial Hospital and
Presbyterian Healthcare System. For more information about Texas Health
Resources, visit www.texashealth.org.
About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
recipient
Serving 1,700 hospitals and more than 49,000 other healthcare sites,
Premier is the largest healthcare alliance in the United States dedicated to
improving patient outcomes while safely reducing the cost of care. Owned by
not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the nation's largest
healthcare purchasing networks and the most comprehensive repository of
hospital clinical and financial information. Premier Insurance Management
Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, operates one of the largest
policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups
in healthcare. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte,
N.C., Philadelphia, and Washington. For more information, visit
www.premierinc.com.