Spectrum Health Ranks Better Than National Average In Several Quality Rankings

Hospital Compare Web Site Publishes Information On Readmission, Rehospitalization Rates

Spectrum Health ranks better than the national average and ahead of other local hospitals in readmission and mortality rates for Medicare patients (age 65+) experiencing heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia. This information was recently added to the Hospital Compare Web site created by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The findings are based on more than one million deaths and readmissions among Medicare patients from 2005 to 2008.

“This data reflects our systemwide efforts in the areas of patient safety and quality,” said John J. Byrnes, MD, senior vice president, system quality for Spectrum Health.'”Our staff is committed to providing the best health care service possible for all patients.”

Spectrum Health Butterworth and Blodgett hospitals rank the best among local hospitals in all of the following areas:

Death Rate for Heart Attack Patients (Better than the U.S. national rate)
Death Rate for Heart Failure Patients
Death Rate for Pneumonia Patients
Rate of Readmission for Heart Attack Patients (Better than the U.S. national rate)
Rate of Readmission for Heart Failure Patients
Rate of Readmission for Pneumonia Patients (Better than the U.S. national rate)’

CMS has posted more information on its Web site, enabling consumers to compare the hospitals in their region. The Web site shows a hospital’s mortality or readmission rate as “better than,” “no different from,” or “worse than” the U.S. national rate. According to CMS, this data includes each hospital’s risk-standardized mortality rate, an estimate of the rate’s certainty (also known as the interval estimate), and the number of eligible cases for each hospital.

Hospital Compare was created through the efforts of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other members of the Hospital Quality Alliance: Improving Care Through Information (HQA). In December 2002, the American Hospital Association (AHA), Federation of American Hospitals (FAH), and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) launched HQA, a national public-private collaboration to encourage hospitals to voluntarily collect and report hospital quality performance information. According to CMS, Hospital Compare is intended to make important information about hospital performance accessible to the public and to inform and invigorate efforts to improve quality.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan that offers a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, a collection of seven hospitals and more than 140 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group, a multispecialty team of nearly 100 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with nearly 500,000 members. Spectrum Health’s 14,000 employees, 1,500 medical staff members and 2,000 volunteers are committed to delivering the highest quality care to those in medical need. The organization provided $111.1 million in community benefit during its 2008 fiscal year. As a system, Spectrum Health has earned more than 100 awards during the past 10 years.