Three Pegasus partner hospitals within Baptist Health System measure up to Joint Commission standards on key quality measures.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA --- Today, Citizens, Princeton and Walker Baptist Medical Centers were named among the nation's top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America. The hospitals were recognized by The Joint Commission based on data reported about evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and children's asthma.
The Baptist Health System hospitals are three of only ten hospitals in Alabama and 405 U.S. hospitals and critical access hospitals to earn the distinction of top performer on key quality measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance.
"We are grateful for this recognition by The Joint Commission realizing that this tangible and important recognition is the result of the excellent collaboration among our Baptist health care team. Our nurses, physicians and other team members will continue to work diligently to provide the best health care for Alabamians," said Dr. Elizabeth Ennis, BHS chief medical officer.
"This distinction by The Joint Commission demonstrates that Princeton, Citizens and Walker Baptist Medical Centers have attained and sustained nationally recognized levels of excellence in providing evidence-based patient care in the clinical areas of heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. Princeton Baptist Medical Center and Walker Baptist Medical Center also received this distinction for their demonstrated Quality in the care of patients with heart attack," said Dr. Ennis.
Inclusion on the list is based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported to The Joint Commission during the previous calendar year. For example, this first recognition program is based on data that were reported for 2010.
To be recognized as a top performer on key quality measures an organization must meet two 95 percent performance thresholds. First they must achieve a composite performance of 95 percent or above after the results of all the accountability measures for which they report data to The Joint Commission were factored into a single score, including measures that had less than 30 eligible cases or patients. Second, they must meet or exceed a 95 percent performance target for every single accountability measure for which they report data, excluding any measure with less than 30 eligible cases or patients.
Both Princeton and Walker Baptist were recognized for achieving these thresholds for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. Citizens Baptist was recognized for heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.
"We understand what matters most to patients at our hospitals-safe, effective care. That's why Baptist Health System has made a commitment to positive patient outcomes through evidence-based care processes. Baptist Health System is proud to be named to the list of The Joint Commission's Top Performers on Key Quality Measures," said Dr. Ennis.
"Today, the public expects transparency in the reporting of performance at the hospitals where they receive care, and The Joint Commission is shining a light on the top performing hospitals such as Citizens Baptist, Princeton Baptist and Walker Baptist that have achieved excellence on a number of vital measures of quality of care," says Dr. Mark R. Chassin, president of The Joint Commission.
In addition to being included in today's release of The Joint Commission's "Improving America's Hospitals" annual report, Baptist Health System will be recognized on The Joint Commission's Quality Check web site (www.qualitycheck.org).