The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Hospital earns 5-star rating
HAMILTON, N.Y. » President and CEO of Community Memorial Hospital Sean Fa dale, community leaders, and employees gathered on Thursday, Aug. 16, for confirmation that Community Memorial Hospital received a 5-Star Quality Rating for Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) as the result of a survey conducted by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Community Memorial was the only hospital in New York state to receive a 5-star rating for HCAHPS. HCAHPS results were based on patient discharges from Oct. 1, 2016 to Sept. 30 2017.
On July 25, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services publicly announced its 2017 National HCAHPS Star Ratings Results. The new ratings are posted on CMS’s Hospital Compare website at www.medicare.gov/hos- pitalcompare/Data/Overview.html
“Every day at Community Memorial Hospital I have the honor to observe the employees and medical staff making a difference for the patients and visitors that come through our doors,” said Fadale. “Whether it is for care in our clinics, emergency room, surgical services, inpatient or outpatient services, med/surg or SCU – caregivers provide an exceptional experience and deliver high quality care to our patients. This is reinforced by the smiles and the feedback we receive from our patients and families and is validated by our HCAHPS Scores.”
National HCAHPS Star Ratings were incepted in 2016 and CMS awarded Community Memorial Hospital along with a handful of hospitals in New York a 4-Star rating in the first year, with Community Memorial Hospital the only hospital in Central New York to receive the 4-Star rating.
“We knew we could be better and we set our goal to achieve 5-Star rating,” Fadale said. “Our staff, along with leadership, began putting specific and deliberate plans in place to achieve the 5-Star rating by the next report in 2017. Our efforts included a ‘quiet hour’ every day at the hospital from 3-4 p.m., regular management rounds, and cross- departmental collaborations, in addition to monthly performance improvement meetings and working with our Patient Advisory Council.”
Patient Satisfaction scores are determined by HCAHPS survey results. This instrument and data collection methodology measures inpatient perspectives on hospital care. The HCAHPS survey is administered to a random sampling of adult in- patients across medical conditions from 48 hours and six weeks after discharge. The survey isn’t restricted to Medicare beneficiaries. The HCAHPS survey reviews six composite topics including nurse communications and doctor communication; two individual topics, cleanliness of hospital and quietness of hospital environment; and two global topics, willingness to recommend hospital and overall rating. CMS applies adjustments for the effects of patient mix (language spoken, age, and ser- vice line) and survey mode (mail, telephone, mixed mode or Interactive Voice Response). In addition, a hospital must have at least 100 completed HCAHPS surveys over a given four-quarter period in order to earn HCAHPS Star Ratings.
Of the 146 New York state hospitals evaluated, 18 earned a 4-star rating; 57 received three stars and 55 two stars.
“This recognition means our patients can know they are receiving the highest quality care from Commu- nity Memorial,” said Diane Chase, senior director of Clinical Services. “Our road to quality does not end here. We have strategic and on-going plans to maintain this high-level rating and will continuously review ways to improve our care. It’s not about doing what is expected, it’s about doing what is exceptional.”
The 2017 Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating based on outcomes is schedule for release to the public by CMS from October – December 2018.