Parrish Medical Center named top performer for quality improvements

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — The goal has been to reduce hospital-acquired conditions and hospital readmissions.

Parrish Medical Center has been ranked as a top performer by VHA, Inc., a national network of not-for-profit healthcare organizations.

PMC is one of 16 hospitals out of 200 in VHA’s Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) to be recognized as a top performer in a number of measures tracked as part of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Partnership for Patients initiative. This ranking is based on third quarter 2013 data.

A “top performer” hospital is one that sustained a zero (0) rate for the past four quarters for a given outcome measure in a Partnership for Patients Area of Focus. As a top-ranked VHA performer, PMC has maintained a zero rate for Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI), Obstetrical Adverse Events (OAE), and Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP).

The federal Partnership for Patients initiative is a partnership with over 3,700 participating hospitals that are working to improve the quality, safety and affordability of healthcare for all Americans. VHA’s Hospital Engagement Network is the third largest initiative network in the country.

PMC’s achievements beyond the recent top performer ranking for specific measured areas in VHA’s Hospital Engagement Network include:

• No central line-acquired blood stream infections during the past two years
• No injuries to mother and baby during birth for the past 1.25 years
• 98.8 percent compliance in reducing normal deliveries before the 39^th week of pregnancy for the most recent six-month period
• No catheter-associated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the past three years
• No instances of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the past seven years

“Parrish Medical Center’s excellent scores are a direct result of diligent work by our care partners in response to the 11 VHA HEN areas of focus,” stated Edwin Loftin, vice president, Acute Care Services/CNO for Parrish Medical Center. “PMC consistently earns top rankings with CMS and other rating agencies for quality and safety, not only in Central Florida, but nationally. Making care safer, more reliable, and less costly is what we work to achieve every day. Being part of the Partnership for Patients initiative has allowed us to provide safe, more effective care for the communities we serve at a lower cost.”

VHA helps its nearly 200 participating hospitals improve in 11 areas of focus ranging from falls and surgical site infections to readmissions. The goal of the HEN program over the past two years has been to reduce hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent and reduce readmissions by 20 percent. Results are reported quarterly to the federal government.

“VHA has a long-standing commitment to help hospitals improve their operational, clinical and financial performance and we are excited to be able to continue our work with Partnership for Patients,” said Dr. Keith Kosel, vice president and program director for VHA’s HEN. “The impact and effectiveness of VHA’s HEN can clearly be seen through the results realized by our hospital participants.”

VHA’s HEN hospitals have, in aggregate, already exceeded the Partnership’s 40 percent improvement goal in ventilator-associated pneumonia, early elective delivery, and central line-associated blood stream infections and are making strong progress in other areas of focus. VHA’s HEN has provided more than 3,000 individualized performance improvement coaching sessions and 644 on-site visits to help its HEN hospitals work through any obstacles to improvement. In addition, VHA has provided nearly 200 educational events to more than 12,000 participants in its network.

As a HEN, VHA will continue to work with participants to make care safer, more reliable, and less costly by meeting the goals set by the Partnership for Patients through December 2014.

WFTV