The Joint Commission Names DCH Regional Medical Center and Northport Medical Center Top Performers for 2013

DCH Regional Medical Center and Northport Medical Center have been recognized as a 2013 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® by The Joint Commission, the leading accrediting organization for health care organizations in America.

The Joint Commission recognized the Regional Medical Center and Northport Medical Center for what it called “exemplary performance” in using evidence-based interventions that increase the chances of healthy outcomes for patients with heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care.

This is the second consecutive year the Regional Medical Center and Northport Medical Center have been recognized as a Top Performer in these four conditions. The Regional Medical Center and Northport Medical Center are among only 712 hospitals to achieve a Top Performer distinction for the past two consecutive years, according to The Joint Commission.

Top Performer status is awarded to hospitals that attain excellence in accountability measure performance. Accountability measures are quality measures that meet criteria that produce the greatest positive impact on patient outcomes when hospitals demonstrate improvement on them. For example, an accountability measure for a heart attack is getting the patient to the cardiac catheterization lab within 90 minutes of arrival, and the surgical care category includes several measures involving the best use of antibiotics to prevent infections. 

To be named a Top Performer, the Regional Medical Center and Northport Medical Center had to achieve a cumulative performance of 95 percent or above across all reported accountability measures and achieve a performance of 95 percent or above on each and every reported accountability measure where there are at least 30 denominator cases. They also had to have at least one core measure set that has a composite rate of 95 percent or above, and within that measure set all applicable individual accountability measures to have a performance rate of 95 percent or above. A 95 percent score means a hospital provided an evidence-based practice 95 times out of 100 opportunities.

 “Delivering the right treatment in the right way at the right time is a cornerstone of high-quality health care. I commend the efforts of DCH Regional Medical Center and Northport Medical Center for their excellent performance on the use of evidence-based interventions,” said Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president and chief executive officer of The Joint Commission.

Bryan Kindred, president/CEO of the DCH Health System said, “We understand that what matters most to patients at DCH Regional Medical Center and Northport Medical Center is safe, effective care. That’s why both hospitals have made a commitment to accreditation and to positive patient outcomes through evidence-based care processes. We are proud to again be named a Top Performer as it recognizes the knowledge, teamwork, and dedication of our entire staff.”

For more information, go to www.jointcommission.org/accreditation/top_performers.aspx.