All three of Tanner’s inpatient acute and critical access hospitals have been named among the nation’s “Top Performers on Key Quality Measures” by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in America.
The Joint Commission recognized Tanner Health System’s facilities for exemplary performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that have been shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.
The acute care Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton and Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica, as well as the critical access Higgins General Hospital in Bremen, were among only 33 Georgia hospitals — 1,224 hospitals nationally — named to this year’s list of top performers by The Joint Commission.
“Many hospitals know how to deliver effective care and provide for favorable outcomes, but Tanner’s emphasis is on doing that in every situation, every time, for every patient,” said Loy Howard, president and CEO for Tanner Health System. “Our medical staff and our patient care teams have access to the latest research and treatments, but the defining feature of our organization continues to be that our team members work together to ensure that patients receive the best possible care every single time.”
The Top Performer program recognizes hospitals for improving performance on evidence-based interventions that increase the chances of healthy outcomes for patients with certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, stroke, venous thromboembolism and perinatal care.
Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica and Higgins General Hospital are among only 147 hospitals nationally that earned the “Top Performer” distinction for four years in a row. All three of Tanner’s hospitals are among the 314 hospitals that have received the distinction for the last three years. This is the fourth year that The Joint Commission has compiled its list of top performers.
Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton was recognized as a top performer for treating heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and for its surgical care. Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica was recognized for its treatment of heart attack, pneumonia and for its surgical care, and Higgins General Hospital was recognized for its treatment of pneumonia.
“Delivering the right treatment in the right way at the right time is a cornerstone of high-quality health care,” said Mark Chassin, MD, president and CEO of The Joint Commission. “I commend the efforts Tanner has made for their excellent performance on the use of evidence-based interventions.”
To be a 2013 Top Performer, hospitals had to meet three performance criteria based on 2013 accountability measure data, including: achieving cumulative performance of 95 percent or above across all reported accountability measures; achieving performance of 95 percent or above on each and every reported accountability measure where there were at least 30 denominator cases; and having at least one core measure set that had a composite rate of 95 percent or above, and — within that measure set — all applicable individual accountability measures had a performance rate of 95 percent or above.
The Top Performer on Key Quality Measures distinction is the most recent for Tanner, which earlier this year was cited by Truven Health Analytics as among the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation for 2014 — the second time in three years Tanner has earned that title.
“For most patients, the quality and safety of the care they receive is the most important aspect they consider in deciding where they will receive care,” said Howard. “By consistently providing high-quality, high-value, evidence based care throughout our health system, we’re able to ensure that our patients are making an educated choice when they come to Tanner. It’s an honor to know that the work we’ve done for our patients has been recognized nationally once again by The Joint Commission.”
For more information on how Tanner compares to other hospitals in the region on national benchmarks for care, visit www.TannerQuality.org. To find a physician on Tanner’s medical staff or learn more about the health system’s services, make a selection in the menu above.
For more information about The Joint Commission’s Top Performer program, visit http://www.jointcommission.org/accreditation/top_performers.aspx.