The Family Medicine Center at University Family Physicians-Detroit recently received the 2005 Governor's Award of Excellence for improving care in ambulatory care setting. The Governor's Award of Excellence is an annual award program created by MPRO, Michigan's health-care quality improvement organization, and the Michigan Governor's Office.

This prestigious award provides primary-care physician offices statewide an opportunity to be recognized for their work in the area of quality improvement. Clinical areas of focus are preventive care, chronic disease management and cancer screening. New criteria for 2005 incorporate the current national initiative focused on the adoption of health information technology in the physician office setting.

"We chose to follow the criteria for diabetes management due to the high prevalence in our patient population. Through quarterly reports and implementation plans for improvement, we accomplished more than 90 percent compliance with the American Diabetes Association indicators for monitoring diabetic patients for better control and prevention of complications," said Tsveti Markova, M.D., director of clinical operations for University Family Physicians-Detroit. "The success was due to everyone's involvement in this initiative: all faculty, residents, staff and office manager. Our patients deserve no less than excellence."