Spectrum Health Named a Top Ten Health System for Second Year

Only System in Michigan to Receive This Honor

Spectrum Health was named one of the 10 top health systems in an annual study analyzing national health care quality and safety performance. This was the second year in a row that Spectrum Health received the honor. In addition, it was the only health system in Michigan to be named in the top 10 by the Thomson Reuters 10 Top Health Systems study.

Researchers from the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals® program analyzed the clinical quality and efficiency of 285 health systems. To be included in the study, systems had to have at least two acute care hospitals with a minimum of 25 beds each. Researchers used public data from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) dataset and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare datasets.

“Spectrum Health is honored to be recognized as one of the 10 best health systems in the country for the second consecutive year,” said Richard C. Breon, President & CEO, Spectrum Health. “This award is a significant recognition of the high quality care and excellent patient experience that our physicians and employees provide individuals and families every day.”

The top health systems were announced in the May 31, 2011 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.

“This year, the 10 Top Health Systems set a new standard for high quality of care across all of the communities they serve,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs at Thomson Reuters. “To produce consistent, strong performance across multiple hospitals, health system leaders must be providing crystal clear goals and communication as well as the means for staff to execute effectively. These systems are positioned to continue performing well as we move further into the era of health care reform.”

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals® program analyzed health systems based on the following eight metrics:

In-hospital mortality
Medical complications
Patient safety
Average length of stay
30-day mortality rate (post-discharge)
30-day readmission rate (post-discharge)
Adherence to clinical standards of care (evidence-based core measures published by CMS)
Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient survey score (part of a national initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to measure the quality of care in hospitals)

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which includes nine hospitals and 180 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart, physician groups totaling more than 600 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with 625,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with more than 17,800 employees. The organization provided $115.9 million in community benefit during its 2010 fiscal year. In 2011 and 2010, Spectrum Health was named a Top 10 Health System by Thomson Reuters.