Caldwell, ID -West Valley Medical Center is the only hospital in Idaho named among the nation's 100 Top Hospitals® by Truven Health Analytics”. This Treasure Valley hospital also achieved the Everest Award, which honors hospitals that performed at the highest level over the past year and showed the fastest long-term improvement over five years. In 2014, only 14 organizations nationwide achieved this exceptional level of performance.
"It is so gratifying to see this level of recognition for our physicians, staff and administrators," says Betsy Hunsicker, chief executive officer at West Valley Medical Center. "Collectively and individually, they consistently aim to make a real difference in the life of every patient we serve - and I'm proud to note that these awards confirm their exceptional efforts."
According to Truven Health Analytics, the 100 Top Hospitals study is independent, quantitative research that identifies the best facility-wide performance out of nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals nationwide. The study evaluates measures that reflect highly effective performance across the whole facility, including board members, medical staff, management and nursing. It analyzes patient outcomes and safety, national treatment standards (core measures), patient satisfaction, operational efficiency and financial stability.
"This year's 100 Top Hospitals represent the highest national standards in hospital care and management today," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and the 100 Top Hospitals program at Truven Health Analytics. "They set the benchmarks for peers around the country to follow - consistently delivering outstanding quality of care, satisfaction, and community value at a reasonable cost."
The 150-bed West Valley Medical Center is listed in the Medium Community Hospitals category along with 19 other facilities across the country. Over the past seven years, teams throughout this Idaho hospital achieved national recognition in part by implementing and continuously monitoring initiatives that improved the quality of care and enhanced patient satisfaction. Here are some highlights:
- Patients seeking care in the emergency department are immediately admitted to a treatment room versus spending anxious minutes in the waiting area
- A robust fall-prevention initiative that successfully improved patient safety
- Nearly eliminating central line-associated blood stream infections
- Place calls to patients treated in the emergency department to reinforce the continuum of care and remind them to follow recommended discharge instructions
- Patients are introduced to new caregivers and information is shared at the bedside during shift changes and transfers to other departments
According to this year's Top 100 Hospitals study, the nation's best hospitals achieved the following:
- Lower mortality index considering patient severity
- Fewer patient complications
- Avoiding adverse patient safety events
- Following accepted care protocols
- Lower 30-day readmission and mortality rates
- Kept expenses low
- Appropriately sent patients home sooner
- Scored better on patient satisfaction surveys
The study shows that if all U.S. hospitals performed at the level of this year's honorees:
- Nearly 165,000 additional lives could be saved
- Nearly 90,000 additional patients could be complication-free
- More than $5.4 billion could be saved
- The average patient stay would decrease by half a day
- If the same standards were applied to all inpatients, the impact would be even greater.
To maintain the study's high level of integrity, Truven Health researchers only analyze publicly available data. That includes Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, as well as core measures and patient satisfaction data provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website.
The Top 100 Hospitals were announced in the March 3, 2014 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine. Hospitals do not apply for this recognition and honorees do not purchase the right to market inclusion in the Top 100 list. More information on this study and other 100 Top Hospitals research is available at www.100tophospitals.com.