Briefly In Business

Medical center wins improvement award

Providence St. Joseph Medical Center is one of 100 hospitals showing improved performance, one of only three large community hospitals in California to be honored.

Solucient, an organization that provides marketing services to the healthcare industry, confers the "Performance Improvement Leaders" award once a year upon hospitals that improve their operations at a faster rate than others in the country, said Dan Boyle, a spokesperson for Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. The criteria includes fewer-than- expected patient complications, improved financial stability and increased patient volumes, he said.

But Providence's inclusion on the list may have more to do with internal restructuring, Boyle said.

"There's been a lot of improvement in our administrative style," he said. "More efficient managers and leaders are really helping us. And throughout our nurses and physicians have always had an eye on how we can continually improve patient care. That has shown up based on these statistics."

Of the 100 hospitals on the list, Solucient chose 20 large community hospitals, with 250 plus acute-care beds; 20 medium community hospitals, with between 100 and 249 acute-care beds; 20 small community hospitals, with 100 ore less acute-care beds; and 40 teaching hospitals.

Yahoo! sets up in Burbank

Yahoo! Search Marketing Company will complete the transfer of more than 1,500 employees from Pasadena to Burbank by this summer. Beginning in spring 2005, Yahoo! has relocated employees to Media Studios North, near the Bob Hope Airport at 3333 Empire Ave.

Yahoo! Search helps businesses advertise and market their companies through Internet search engines.

Yahoo! Search joins other media-related corporations that have set up shop in Burbank, including NBC, Disney Corporation and Warner Bros.