These seven facilities made Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals for 2012.
Decisions to recognize facilities as "benchmark institutions" are based on performance in ten areas:
- mortality
- medical complications
- patient safety
- average patient stay
- expenses
- profitability
- patient satisfaction
- adherence to clinical standards of care
- post-discharge mortality
- readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, and pneumonia.
The study has been conducted annually since 1993. "This year," says Reuters, "the concentration of 100 Top Hospitals has shifted significantly, with Texas, Florida and California housing the most winners. A major change in performance geographically is an encouraging indication that the bar for quality care has been raised once again."
The final scores for the top 100 of all 2,886 short-term, acute-care, non-federal hospitals were judged across five categories: Major Teaching Hospitals with more than 400 beds and higher levels of physician education and research, Teaching Hospitals with more than 200 beds and some physician education and three tiers (large: 250+ beds, medium: 100 – 249 beds, and small: 25 – 99 beds) of Community Hospitals.
To be named, hospitals must score well compared to others in their category based on composite scores of at least median level of 14 measures of quality, efficiency, safety and patient satisfaction. Top hospitals outperformed their peers in all 14 measures.
Four HCA facilities are Large Community Hospitals—Kendall Regional Medical Center, Ocala Regional Medical Center and the two Austin locations of St. David’s.
Gulf Coast Medical Center, Northwest Medical Center and St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center fall under Medium Community Hospitals.
Data for the Reuters' analysis is derived from public information – Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.
It's interesting to note that if all hospitals performed at the same level as the HCA facilities and the other 100 Top Hospitals award winners, based on an analysis of Medicare inpatients over one year:
- More than 186,000 additional lives could be saved.
- Approximately 56,000 additional patients could be complication-free.
- More than $4.3 billion could be saved.
- The average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.
Imagine the numbers if it applied to all inpatients. That's some real food for thought.
A well-deserved congratulations to all HCA facilities to receive the honor.