Joint Commission Annual Report Names Top Performing Hospitals

OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL--(Marketwire - Sep 14, 2011) - For the first time, The Joint Commission's 2011 annual report on quality and safety, Improving America's Hospitals, lists hospitals and critical access hospitals that are top performers in using evidence-based care processes closely linked to positive patient outcomes. The 405 organizations identified as attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance for the full previous year (2010) represent approximately 14 percent of Joint Commission-accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals that report core measure performance data.

Based on performance related to 22 accountability measures for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and children's asthma care, The Joint Commission report singles out hospitals in 45 states. The list of top performing hospitals and the measure set or sets for which the hospital was recognized are available online at http://www.jointcommission.org/accreditation/top_performers.aspx .

"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 that have achieved excellence on a number of vital measures of quality of care," says Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president, The Joint Commission. "Hospitals that commit themselves to accreditation-related quality improvement efforts such as the use of evidence-based treatments create better outcomes for patients and, ultimately, a healthier nation."

The Joint Commission's sixth annual report, which presents scientific evidence of hospital performance and how it relates to common medical conditions and procedures, demonstrates continual improvement on accountability measures over a nine-year period. The newest data, drawn from more than 3,000 accredited hospitals, show:

• Significant progress in consistently using evidence-based treatments. In 2002, hospitals achieved 81.8 percent composite performance on 957,000 opportunities to perform care processes related to accountability measures. In 2010, hospitals achieved 96.6 percent composite performance on 12.3 million opportunities -- a nine-year improvement of 14.8 percentage points. A composite result sums up the results of all individual accountability measures into a single percentage result and can be calculated at the measure set level or over all reported accountability measures.
• The heart attack care result is up 11.5 percent, from 86.9 percent in 2002 to 98.4 percent in 2010.
• The 2010 pneumonia care result is 95.2 percent, up from 72.3 percent in 2002 -- an improvement of 22.9 percentage points.
• The surgical care result has improved to 96.4 percent in 2010 from 82.1 percent in 2005 (14.3 percentage points).
• The 2010 children's asthma care result is 92.3 percent, up from 79.8 in 2008 -- an improvement of 12.5 percentage points.
• The percentage of hospitals achieving composite accountability measures greater than 90 percent has also dramatically improved. In 2010, 91.7 percent of hospitals achieved 90 percent compliance, compared to 20.4 percent in 2002.

Although hospitals achieved 90 percent or better performance on most individual process of care measures, the report contends that more improvement is needed. For example, hospitals finished 2010 with relatively low performance on the following two measures introduced in 2005:

• Providing fibrinolytic therapy within 30 minutes of arrival to heart attack patients -- only 60.5 percent of hospitals achieved 90 percent compliance or better.
• Providing antibiotics to immunocompetent intensive care unit pneumonia patients -- only 77.2 percent of hospitals achieved 90 percent compliance or better.

"While the data across the annual report show impressive gains in hospital quality performance on many specific measures, further improvements can still be made," says Dr. Chassin. "By following evidence-based care processes, hospitals can improve the quality of the care they provide and meet national mandates regarding performance. The Joint Commission will continue to seek new methods to inspire and assist hospitals to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value."

One such effort is the integration of performance expectations for accountability measures into accreditation standards. Beginning January 1, 2012, Joint Commission-accredited hospitals will be required to meet a new performance improvement requirement that establishes an 85 percent composite compliance target rate for performance on accountability measures. The new requirement is intended to help improve performance on selected core measures of patient care. This standard will not apply to the critical access hospital program.

Quality, safety and patient satisfaction results for specific hospitals can be found at www.qualitycheck.org.

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including more than 10,300 hospitals and home care organizations, and more than 6,500 other health care organizations that provide long term care, behavioral health care, laboratory and ambulatory care services. The Joint Commission also provides certification of more than 2,000 disease-specific care programs, primary stroke centers, and health care staffing services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.

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