Yale–New Haven Hospital Top Contender in Abbott Quality Awards

In 1997, Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut was awarded the top prize of $10,000 in the Abbott Laboratories National Hospital Pharmacy Quality Awards for their significant improvements in asthma care at an inner-city primary care center. The hospital's team, led by Laura Engles-Horton, Pharm.D., achieved a 64% reduction in emergency department visits and a 63% decrease in hospital admissions for asthma, resulting in an estimated cost avoidance of $180,000. Other awardees included Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Maine Medical Center, and The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, which received second-place awards of $5,000 each for their respective quality improvement projects in antiemetic guidelines, antibiotic use, and documenting pharmacists' clinical interventions. Additionally, six honorable mentions of $1,500 each were given to various institutions for improvements in areas such as chemotherapy error prevention, treatment of peptic ulcer disease, and medication counseling for discharged patients.