While cases of hospital infections appear to be on the rise statewide, Auburn Memorial Hospital seems to have been effective in keeping those infections at bay. But that's not good enough for one AMH official.
According to the 2008 New York State Hospital Report Card being released today by the Niagara Health Quality Coalition, AMH is at the state average of 0.227 percent in the occurrence of serious infections, which primarily are caused by intravenous lines and catheters.
NHQC describes itself as a nonprofit, nationally recognized multi-stakeholder focused on improving quality through cooperation and information sharing.
While meeting the state average is important to AMH, surpassing it is even better.
“We're always looking to improve upon any infection rate,” Director of Risk/Quality Management Michele Nolan-Bell said. “We will always strive to be better. You always want to strive to be better and quality is a never-ending job.”
NHQC, recently designated as one of 14 federal Chartered Value Exchange organizations by the Department of Health and Human Services for endeavoring to change health care at the local level, has released this statewide report card annually since 2002, providing information to consumers as well as hospital officials on quality care for all of the state's hospitals.
“We have found that the hospitals in New York state increasingly are proactive in investigating opportunities for improvement that are highlighted in our report,” NHQC President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Boissonnault said.
Data from the report and further analysis stems from the billing and discharge information reported by all state hospitals to the state Department of Health for every patient hospitalized in 2006.
While AMH primarily uses the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for service assessment, the report card is another way for officials to see what they are doing right and what needs to be corrected.
According to the report, complicated procedures such as abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs - surgery performed to prevent a rupture of the abdominal aorta, a major blood vessel from the heart - and carotid endarterectomy - surgery performed to remove blockages from the carotid arteries and reduce the chance of stroke -, among others, are either not performed at AMH or not performed enough for the NHQC to analyze.
AMH generally refers patients elsewhere for those procedures, Nolan-Bell said. However, the hospital is actively recruiting physicians, and the possibility of performing those inpatient practices in the future may be discussed through strategic planning.
The report also assesses the risk-adjusted mortality rate, which takes into account patient demographics such as age, gender and diagnostic group.
While AMH met the state average with mortality rates for heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and other conditions, the hospital falls below the average with pneumonia mortality and acute stroke mortality.
Nolan-Bell said the mortality review is something AMH has studied extensively. While the hospital complies with state and federal mandates, she said, it will continue to review the data and devise ways to improve services.
“We automatically react and pull records ourselves and look when we see the pneumonia mortality rate and say, 'Did we do everything we were supposed to do?,'” she said. “We find ways to put us back to the state average or better than the state average.”
Through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, AMH inputs data relative to the pneumonia patients and through that analysis make sure the best care is provided to patients, she added.
While AMH has dipped below some state averages, Nolan-Bell believes the report contains good news for Auburn and its surrounding community.
“It stands in my mind as an overall positive report,” she said. “There are areas where we can demonstrate some improvement, and of course improve in the areas where we are at the state average and strive to be above the state average.”
The full report card, which provides hospital comparisons for risk-adjusted mortality rates through various procedures, hospital volume by type of surgery, inappropriate procedure rates and region, among others, can be viewed at www.myhealthfinder.com.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
NHQC describes itself as a nonprofit, nationally recognized multi-stakeholder focused on improving quality through cooperation and information sharing.
While meeting the state average is important to AMH, surpassing it is even better.
“We're always looking to improve upon any infection rate,” Director of Risk/Quality Management Michele Nolan-Bell said. “We will always strive to be better. You always want to strive to be better and quality is a never-ending job.”
NHQC, recently designated as one of 14 federal Chartered Value Exchange organizations by the Department of Health and Human Services for endeavoring to change health care at the local level, has released this statewide report card annually since 2002, providing information to consumers as well as hospital officials on quality care for all of the state's hospitals.
“We have found that the hospitals in New York state increasingly are proactive in investigating opportunities for improvement that are highlighted in our report,” NHQC President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Boissonnault said.
Data from the report and further analysis stems from the billing and discharge information reported by all state hospitals to the state Department of Health for every patient hospitalized in 2006.
While AMH primarily uses the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for service assessment, the report card is another way for officials to see what they are doing right and what needs to be corrected.
According to the report, complicated procedures such as abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs - surgery performed to prevent a rupture of the abdominal aorta, a major blood vessel from the heart - and carotid endarterectomy - surgery performed to remove blockages from the carotid arteries and reduce the chance of stroke -, among others, are either not performed at AMH or not performed enough for the NHQC to analyze.
AMH generally refers patients elsewhere for those procedures, Nolan-Bell said. However, the hospital is actively recruiting physicians, and the possibility of performing those inpatient practices in the future may be discussed through strategic planning.
The report also assesses the risk-adjusted mortality rate, which takes into account patient demographics such as age, gender and diagnostic group.
While AMH met the state average with mortality rates for heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and other conditions, the hospital falls below the average with pneumonia mortality and acute stroke mortality.
Nolan-Bell said the mortality review is something AMH has studied extensively. While the hospital complies with state and federal mandates, she said, it will continue to review the data and devise ways to improve services.
“We automatically react and pull records ourselves and look when we see the pneumonia mortality rate and say, 'Did we do everything we were supposed to do?,'” she said. “We find ways to put us back to the state average or better than the state average.”
Through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, AMH inputs data relative to the pneumonia patients and through that analysis make sure the best care is provided to patients, she added.
While AMH has dipped below some state averages, Nolan-Bell believes the report contains good news for Auburn and its surrounding community.
“It stands in my mind as an overall positive report,” she said. “There are areas where we can demonstrate some improvement, and of course improve in the areas where we are at the state average and strive to be above the state average.”
The full report card, which provides hospital comparisons for risk-adjusted mortality rates through various procedures, hospital volume by type of surgery, inappropriate procedure rates and region, among others, can be viewed at www.myhealthfinder.com.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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