ALMH earns 'Top Performer on Key Quality Measures' recognition from Joint Commission

[September 21, 2012]  Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital was named one of the nation's "Top Performers on Key Quality Measures" by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America. ALMH was recognized by The Joint Commission for exemplary performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, children's asthma, stroke, venous thromboembolism, as well as inpatient psychiatric services.

ALMH is one of 620 hospitals in the U.S. earning the distinction of Top Performer on Key Quality Measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance. ALMH was recognized for its achievement on the measure sets for pneumonia and surgical care. The ratings are based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported to The Joint Commission during the 2011 calendar year. The list of Top Performers increased by 50 percent from its debut last year and represents 18 percent of more than 3,400 eligible accredited hospitals reporting data.

Each of the hospitals named as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures met two 95 percent performance thresholds on 2011 accountability measure data. First, each hospital achieved performance of 95 percent or above on a single, composite score that includes all the accountability measures for which it reports data to The Joint Commission, including measures that had fewer than 30 eligible cases or patients. Second, each hospital met or exceeded 95 percent performance on every accountability measure for which it reports data to the Joint Commission, excluding any measures with fewer than 30 eligible cases or patients. A 95 percent score means a hospital provided an evidence-based practice 95 times out of 100 opportunities to provide the practice -- for example, giving aspirin at arrival for heart attack patients, giving antibiotics one hour before surgery, and providing a home management plan for children with asthma.

"When we raise the bar and provide the proper guidance and tools, hospitals have responded with excellent results," says Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president of The Joint Commission. "This capacity for continual improvement points toward a future in which quality and safety defects are dramatically reduced and high reliability is sought and achieved with regularity. Such day-to-day progress will slowly but surely transform today's health care system into one that achieves unprecedented performance outcomes for the benefit of the patients."

"The physicians and staff of Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital understand that what matters most to patients is safe, effective care. That's why ALMH has made a commitment to accreditation and to positive patient outcomes through evidence-based care processes. We are humbled and proud to be named to the list of The Joint Commission's Top Performers on Key Quality Measures," said Dolan Dalpoas, CEO.

In addition to being included in this week's release of The Joint Commission's "Improving America's Hospitals" annual report, ALMH will be recognized on The Joint Commission's Quality Check website, www.qualitycheck.org. The Top Performer program will be featured in the October issues of The Joint Commission Perspectives and The Joint Commission: The Source.

[Text from file received from Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital]