DCMH Earns ‘Top Performer on Key Quality Measures™’ Recognition from The Joint Commission
According to a recent report released by The Joint Commission, Delaware County Memorial Hospital is one of only 620 hospitals in the nation and nine locally to be named a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures. DCMH received this distinction for exemplary performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for treatment of heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. The Joint Commission is the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America.
The ratings are based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported to The Joint Commission during the 2011 calendar year. The list of Top Performers increased by 50 percent from its debut last year and represents 18 percent of accredited hospitals reporting data.
Each of the hospitals that were named as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures met two 95 percent (95/95) performance thresholds on 2011 accountability measure data. First, each hospital achieved performance of 95 percent or above on a single, composite score that includes all the accountability measures for which it reports data to The Joint Commission, including measures that had fewer than 30 eligible cases or patients. Second, each hospital met or exceeded 95 percent performance on every accountability measure for which it reports data to The Joint Commission, excluding any measures with fewer than 30 eligible cases or patients. A 95 percent score means a hospital provided an evidence-based practice 95 times out of 100 opportunities to provide the practice. Each accountability measure represents an evidence-based practice – for example, giving aspirin at arrival for heart attack patients, or giving antibiotics one hour before surgery.
“When we raise the bar and provide the proper guidance and tools, hospitals have responded with excellent results,” says Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president of The Joint Commission. “This capacity for continual improvement points toward a future in which quality and safety defects are dramatically reduced and high reliability is sought and achieved with regularity. Such day-to-day progress will slowly but surely transform today’s health care system into one that achieves unprecedented performance outcomes for the benefit of the patients.”
“We understand that what matters most to patients at Delaware County Memorial Hospital is safe, effective care,” says William McCune, president of Delaware County Memorial Hospital. “That’s why DCMH has made a commitment to accreditation and to positive patient outcomes through evidence-based care processes. DCMH is proud to be named to the list of The Joint Commission’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures.”
In addition to being included in The Joint Commission’s “Improving America’s Hospitals” annual report, DCMH is recognized for this achievement on The Joint Commission’s Quality Check website (www.qualitycheck.org). The Top Performer program was also featured in the November issue of The Joint Commission Perspectives.
“This is quite an achievement for the physicians and staff of DCMH and speaks volumes of their commitment to reliably provide evidence based care to their patients. This does not occur without effort, teamwork and diligence,” says Eric Dobkin, M.D., Vice President, Quality and Patient Safety for Crozer-Keystone Health System.
Learn more about DCMH by visiting www.crozerkeystone.org.
