Boston - Caritas Christi Health Care, the second largest health care system in New England, and parent organization to Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center and five other Massachusetts hospitals, announced today that the health care system has surpassed requirements set forth by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' Quality Incentive Program.

In accordance with BCBSMA's Quality Incentive Program, from September 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004, member hospitals of Caritas Christi were required to meet two quality improvement goals related to patient service.  The goals included:

• Reducing the average rate of unscheduled readmissions within 31 days for patients with Congestive Heart Failure. 
• Reducing by five percent the percentage of patients with Community Acquired Pneumonia who receive the initial dose of antibiotic after the minimum four-hour threshold.

All hospitals within the health care system surpassed both goals.

The hub of the System's six hospitals is Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center of Boston, a tertiary academic teaching hospital affiliated with Tufts School of Medicine.  Acute care hospitals in the System include Caritas Carney Hospital, Dorchester; Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center, Brockton; Caritas Holy Family Hospital and Medical Center, Methuen; Caritas Norwood Hospital; and Saint Anne's Hospital, Fall River, and the Caritas Clinic, a 400-physician group practice.