HMC names six Top Quality hospitals
HMC honors cutting-edge hospitals
NEEDHAM, MASS. – July 14, 2010 – The Healthcare Management Council, Inc. (HMC) has recognized client hospitals for its first annual Top Quality Award winners.
“Over the past several years the microscope has been increasingly focused on improving quality in healthcare,” notes HMC Principal John Whittlesey. “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has adopted the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) standards for uniform reporting on patient safety and inpatient quality across all hospitals in the United States, and more indicators are coming down the pike.”
To assist clients to achieve their performance initiative goals, in 2008 HMC implemented the Quality Benchmark tool. HMC has steadily improved the product since then, and subsequently, most clients have deployed it as part of their integrated performance improvement programs. ” Many clients have successfully realized significant improvements across a wide variety of indicators, and HMC is recognizing these high achievers with its 2010 Top Quality Awards. We congratulate the winners,” says Whittlesey.
The need to improve quality is increasing, given the prevalence of easily accessed data sources about hospital performance. Whittlesey notes that quality comparisons are readily available online to the public via web sites. Moreover, consumers are quickly becoming savvier about evaluating cost and quality measurements in making their healthcare decisions. “Hospitals are also on the financial hook for off-quality events that occur in their facility,” he says. “So there’s a strong incentive to reduce these events and improve patient outcomes.”
Six winners judged according to strict criteria
HMC scored each of its client facilities along five dimensions:
- Overall AHRQ patient safety quality score in the best one-half of peer group
- Cost versus quality performance in the upper left quadrant of the peer matrix (i.e., low cost/high quality)
- Overall patient safety quality score showed improvement versus the previous year
- Off-quality savings potential was less than two percent of total inpatient clinical costs
- Off-quality savings potential decreased versus the previous year
Finalists had to score “Yes” in each of the five categories to qualify. HMC also considered additional tie-breaking factors including: performance on AHRQ inpatient quality indicators, percent improvement in quality score; largest decrease in off-quality excess; and lowest ratio of off-quality excess to total clinical costs.
The Best Overall Performer was Logan, Utah-based Logan Regional Hospital, a nonprofit, full-service regional medical center located 80 miles northeast of Salt Lake City. It is a member hospital of the Intermountain Healthcare system. ”Logan showed one of the highest overall quality scores in the HMC partnership and has been in the top quartile of cost versus quality for the past two years,” says Whittlesey.
The facility saw a 14 percent improvement in overall quality score from 2008 to 2009, and a 30 percent improvement since 2007. It also realized a 40 percent reduction in cited savings potential for off-quality cases, and had only .28 percent of its clinical costs in off-quality excess.
The Top Performer was American Fork Hospital, based in American Fork, Utah (and also an Intermountain Healthcare member), a 117-bed community hospital and a runner-up for HMC’s 2009 Top Performer Award. “AFH has traditionally been one of the lowest cost facilities in HMC’s database, and this year saw a remarkable improvement in its quality position, as well,” says Whittlesey. “AFH had the largest reduction in cited excess for off-quality from 2008 to 2009 and the second largest improvement in overall quality score.”
In the Honorable Mention category were Sentara Leigh Hospital, based in Norfolk, Va. (part of Sentara Health System); Howell, Mich.-based Saint Joseph Mercy Livingston Hospital, and Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital (both are members of the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System). The most improved facility was Rome, Ga.-based Floyd Medical Center.
For inquiries regarding the Top Quality award, please contact John Whittlesey:
Email: jwhittlesey@hmccentral.com
Office number: (781) 449-5287
About HMC
HMC is the leading provider of actionable performance benchmarking, encompassing quality, cost, productivity, patient satisfaction, span of control, best practices, and dashboards. HMC enables hospital managers to achieve their full potential for excellence.
For further information: http://www.hmc-benchmarks.com
For press inquiries only, contact Marc Songini:
| Email: | msongini@hmccentral.com |
| Phone: | (781) 449-5287 |
