PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOD SHEPHERD MEDICAL CENTER
Good Shepherd Health Care System (GSHCS) today announced it has been recognized by iVantage Health Analytics and the National Organization of State Office of Rural Health (NOSORH) for overall excellence in Outcomes and Financial Strength, reflecting top quartile performance among all acute care hospitals in the nation.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), outcomes refers to publicly-reported hospital data which include mortality measures for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) and heart failure, pneumonia, and 30- day readmission rates for those conditions. Also reported are readmission data for hip/knee replacements and in-hospital adverse events and mortality. CMS’s intent with the release of this type of information is to provide consumers with transparency when they are seeking their hospital care and empowers consumers to help them make wise decisions when seeking their medical care, all while giving hospitals much needed feedback on their quality improvement efforts.
“This is truly an honor, and a team effort,” said GSHCS President and CEO Dennis Burke. “We have a strong bond with our community. Many of the people we treat are our neighbors, friends, and, in some cases, family. Our staff feels a strong sense of duty and accomplishment in striving to provide the best quality services in each of our departments. You can see it in the cleanliness of our facility to the warm greeting you receive when you enter our lobbies, the compassionate care of our nursing staff, and the expertise of our physicians. It is our mission to provide compassionate, high quality and accessible health care and to promote a healthy community. With that understanding, our community can feel confident that when they access the services of GSHCS, they are receiving the best.”
The rankings have been designated by the Hospital Strength INDEX™, the industry’s most comprehensive and objective assessment of hospital performance. In partnership with NOSORH, iVantage Health Analytics has developed a data-driven program designed to identify excellence across a broad spectrum of indicators relevant to hospital performance and patient care. The Hospital Strength INDEX™ captures performance metrics for more than 4,000 acute care hospitals, including over 1,300 rural and Critical Access Hospitals. Leveraging data from public data sources, INDEX aggregates data from 66 individual metrics into three major categories and nine pillars to derive a single strength overall rating for each facility.
“These top quartile performers should take great pride in this recognition,” said Michael Topchik, senior vice president of iVantage Health Analytics. “It showcases their commitment to continuous performance analysis and improvement. On this occasion of National Rural Health Day, taking place nationally on Nov. 19, it’s an honor to celebrate their achievement as they continue to serve their communities despite the many market, regulatory and financial pressures they face.”
