Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/777561
40 CMO / CARE DELIVERY 49 Hospitals With the Lowest Readmission Rates By Heather Punke E ven though recent studies have called into question if low readmission rates are a sign of a high-quality hospital, hospitals in the U.S. are still financially punished for high read- mission rates as part of CMS' Hospital Readmis- sion Reduction Program. e national 30-day rate of readmission aer hospital discharge is 15.6 percent, according to the most recent data from CMS' Hospital Com- pare. However, some hospitals have much lower readmission rates than the national average. Listed below are the 49 hospitals with 30-day hospitalwide readmission rates at or below 13.6 percent. Data were pulled from CMS' Hospital Compare website, and the rates re- flect data measured from July 2014 through June 2015. Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City) — 10.8 percent Hoag Orthopedic Institute (Irvine, Calif.) — 11 percent New England Baptist Hospital (Boston) — 11.8 percent OrthoIndy Hospital (Indianapolis) — 12.2 percent Mount Carmel New Albany (Ohio) Surgical Hospital — 12.3 percent Arkansas Surgical Hospital (North Little Rock) — 12.4 percent St. Francis-Downtown (Greenville, S.C.) — 12.8 percent Community Hospital of the Monterey Penin- sula (Monterey, Calif.) — 12.9 percent Kansas Spine & Specialty Hospital (Wichita) — 12.9 percent Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital (Omaha) — 13 percent St. Alexius Medical Center (Bismarck, N.D.) — 13 percent Chino Valley Medical Center (Chino, Calif.) — 13.1 percent Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Hospital — 13.1 percent Kansas Surgery & Recover Center (Wichita) — 13.1 percent Texas Orthopedic Hospital (Houston) — 13.1 percent Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla (Calif.) — 13.2 percent Fresno (Calif.) Surgical Hospital — 13.2 percent Parkview Medical Center (Pueblo, Colo.) — 13.2 percent St. Vincent Carmel (Ind.) Hospital — 13.2 percent CHI St. Luke's Health-Patients Medical Center (Pasadena, Texas) — 13.2 percent Providence Alaska Medical Center (Anchor- age) — 13.3 percent Verde Valley Medical Center (Cottonwood, Ariz.) — 13.3 percent Mercy Medical Center Redding (Calif.) — 13.3 percent St. Mary's Medical Center (Grand Junction, Colo.) — 13.3 percent e Queen's Medical Center (Honolulu, Ha- waii) — 13.3 percent Mercy Hospital (Iowa City, Iowa) — 13.3 percent Intermountain Medical Center (Murray, Utah) — 13.3 percent Nebraska Spine Hospital (Omaha) — 13.4 percent Oklahoma Surgical Hospital (Tulsa) — 13.4 percent McBride Orthopedic Hospital (Oklahoma City, Okla.) — 13.4 percent St. Joseph Medical Center (Bellingham, Wash.) — 13.4 percent Mayo Clinic Health System Eau Claire (Wis.) Hospital — 13.4 percent Santa Barbara (Calif.) Cottage Hospital — 13.5 percent MaineGeneral Medical Center (Augusta) — 13.5 percent MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena — 13.5 percent Lincoln (Neb.) Surgical Hospital — 13.5 percent Oklahoma Heart Hospital (Oklahoma City) — 13.5 percent Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital — 13.5 percent Flagstaff (Ariz.) Medical Center — 13.6 per- cent Santa Rosa (Calif.) Memorial Hospital — 13.6 percent ValleyCare Medical Center (Pleasanton, Ca- lif.) — 13.6 percent Sutter Auburn (Calif.) Faith Hospital — 13.6 percent Centrua Health-Penrose St. Francis Health Services (Colorado Springs, Colo.) — 13.6 percent Rooks County Health Center (Plainville, Kan.) — 13.6 percent St. Patrick Hospital (Missoula, Mont.) — 13.6 percent St. Vincent Healthcare (Billings, Mont.) — 13.6 percent Integris Bass Baptist Health Center (Enid, Okla.) — 13.6 percent St. Luke's Quakertown (Pa.) Hospital — 13.6 percent Black Hills Surgical Hospital (Rapid City, S.D.) — 13.6 percent n Geisinger Finalizes Medical School Partnership By Tamara Rosin D anville, Pa.-based Geisinger Health System now has a medical school. Commonwealth Medical College is officially part of the health system, Penn Live reports. The integration took effect Jan. 2 after the organizations received the necessary regulatory approvals. Geisinger announced plans to buy the medical school in September 2016. The medical school, which has been rebranded Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, opened in 2008 in Scranton, Pa., and has additional cam- puses in Sayre, Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport, Pa. It has awarded more than 250 doctor of medicine degrees and 300 master of biomedical sciences de- grees since the first class in 2013, according to the report. Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, along with Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, are the only three Pennsylvania medical schools outside of Pittsburgh and Phil- adelphia, according to the report. Steven J. Scheinman, MD, will continue to serve in his current role as president and dean of the medical school. He will pick up the titles of chief academic officer and executive vice president at Geisinger Health System, according to the report. n