Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

36 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT & MEASUREMENT Hospital Reputation Isn't Always Reliable Indicator of Surgical Care Quality By Alia Paavola S ome U.S. hospitals consistently included on lists for top overall performance and patient safety do not provide the highest quality care for certain surgical procedures, according to an analysis by MPIRICA, a startup focused on quality transparency in the healthcare industry. For the study, MPIRICA assigned 10 reputable hospitals a quality score on 24 common procedural categories. The qual- ity score is based on an examination of millions of Medicare claims from over 123,000 surgeons across the country. It mea- sures patient risk and rates surgeon performance on a scale from 100 to 800, similar to a credit score. MPIRICA averaged the surgeon scores at each hospital for each surgical category. Excellent outcomes are scores be- tween 600 and 800, fair outcomes fall between 400 and 600 and anything below 400 is considered below average. The scoring does not penalize providers for taking on higher-risk surgeries. Each of the 10 hospitals included in the analysis scored fair or below average for between 10 and 15 of the surgical proce- dures examined. The following hospitals and health systems were included in the analysis: Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital; Chicago-based Northwester Memorial Hospital; Cleveland Clinic; New York City-based NYU Langone Medical Center; Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic; New York City-based NewYork-Pres- byterian; Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Hospital; and San Francisco-based UCSF Medical Center. n NAHQ: 10k Professionals Now Certified in Healthcare Quality By Brian Zimmerman M ore than 10,000 healthcare professionals are now desig- nated as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality by the National Association for Healthcare Quality. Professionals who earn CPHQ certification display competency in healthcare quality knowledge, exhibit dedication to the profession and are equipped with the knowledge and skills to help improve outcomes across the care continuum. The certification is preferred or required for many healthcare positions in the quality sector. "Ten-thousand is more than a big number — it represents a critical mass of individuals who have committed to quality and committed to the CPHQ," said Stephanie Mercado, CEO and executive direc- tor of NAHQ. "The role of quality professionals is more important than ever. Earning the CPHQ shows that the holder is committed, competent and qualified in the healthcare quality profession." n 16 Large Hospitals With the Lowest C-Section Rates By Emily Rappleye W hether a pregnant woman has a cesarean section is largely dictated by the hospital in which she chooses to give birth, according to Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports conducted an analysis of C-section birth rates at more than 1,300 hospitals among first-time moth- ers at low risk, or those who are having one full-term child who is positioned head first. It found 203 U.S. hospitals had low-risk C-section rates of 18.4 percent or less. e national average is 25.8 percent and the national target, set by HHS, is 23.9 percent. e following 16 hospitals had C-section rates of 17 percent or less, according to Consumer Reports. ese hospitals also delivered at least 3,500 babies or had at least 750 low-risk births in 2015 or the nine months ending September 2015 or June 2016. 1. Crouse Hospital (Syracuse, N.Y.) — 7 percent 2. SSM St. Mary's Health Center (St. Louis) — 12 percent 3. Memorial Medical Center (Springfield, Ill.) — 12 percent 4. Lovelace Women's Hospital (Albuquerque, N.M.) — 13 percent 5. Bakersfield (Calif.) Memorial Hospital — 13 percent 6. Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (Provo, Utah) — 14 percent 7. WakeMed Raleigh (N.C.) Campus — 15 percent 8. Intermountain Medical Center (Murray, Utah) — 16 percent 9. Desert Regional Medical Center (Palm Springs, Calif.) — 16 percent 10. NorthShore University Health System (Evanston, Ill.) — 17 percent 11. Kaiser Permanente Panorama City (Calif.) Medical Center — 17 percent 12. Kaleida Health (Buffalo, N.Y.) — 17 percent 13. Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago) — 17 percent 14. TMC HealthCare (Tucson, Ariz.) — 17 percent 15. University Medical Center (Lubbock, Texas) — 17 percent 16. Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (Wash.) — 17 percent *Repeat numbers indicate organizations with the same rank- ing based on C-section rate. n

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