Top 100 Hospitals: What we rate

IMGCAP(1)]

Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:40am EDT - The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals study evaluates performance in 10 areas: mortality; medical complications; patient safety; average patient stay; expenses; profitability; patient satisfaction; adherence to clinical standards of care; post-discharge mortality; and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, and pneumonia.

The study has been conducted annually since 1993.

"This year's 100 Top Hospitals award winners have delivered exemplary results, despite volatility from healthcare reform," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president at Thomson Reuters.

"The leadership teams at these organizations have dealt with enormous ambiguity, yet remained focused on mission and excellence across the hospital, which drove national benchmarks to new highs."

To conduct the 100 Top Hospitals study, Thomson Reuters researchers evaluated 2,914 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals.

They used 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.

If all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities:

* Nearly 116,000 additional patients would survive each year.

* More than 197,000 patient complications would be avoided annually.

* Expense per adjusted discharge would drop by $462.

* The average patient stay would decrease by half a day.

If the same standards were applied to all inpatients, the impact would be even greater.

For more information, please visit www.100tophospitals.com.

© 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.


Follow EBN on: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Podcasts

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Healthcare plans
MORE FROM EMPLOYEE BENEFIT NEWS