The Apogee Promise
by Michael Gregory, MD, Chairman
A real Hospitalist program is much more than a group of doctors who only see inpatients. At its highest state, its Apogee, it is a system of care in which physicians hold themselves and the entire care team, to a higher standard. The achievement of this potential requires an environment where results are monitored and actions undertaken to ensure consistent high performance. At Apogee, we call this consistent state of practice excellence the Apogee Promise™.
The Apogee Promise has its foundation in four key concepts.
Safety
We define safety as the absence of avoidable harm. It is a travesty that medical errors are the 5th leading cause of death in this country today.
Quality
Quality is perhaps the most overused word in healthcare today. Apogee defines quality as making the best practice the common practice.
Service
We are in the only business I can think of where the customer has no idea if the product they receive is any good. However, patients know in an instant whether you care about them. No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. Our patients deserve great health care experiences, brought to them by a passionate group of folks who hold themselves to the highest possible standard, Apogee's standards.
Value
We must be conscious stewards of the health care dollars we command. Resources are not unlimited and we are tasked with doing great and noble things on a tightening budget. Apogee Physicians will always be an active conservationist of health care dollars, but this will never be at the patient's expense.
The Apogee Promise defines who we are. We are here to be the best. This means we measure not to impress, but to improve. That each and every one who calls Apogee home understands that they play an active role in Delivering the Apogee Promise. Each of us has the opportunity to be part of a team that is the best in the world at what we do. This is an honor, but more importantly, a responsibility. A responsibility not just to Apogee, but to ourselves. Look in the mirror and ask yourself, "Am I the best I can be? If not? Why not?” and, “What I am doing about it - Today?"
Bottom line... it really is about each of us living up to our full potential and through that action making the family to which we all belong, Apogee, all that we can be together. For ourselves, for each other, for our patients.
