By Times-News
Posted Nov. 8, 2015 at 1:00 AM, Updated Nov 8, 2015 at 11:50 AM
GREENSBORO — Alamance Regional Medical Center has placed in the top 10 percent of hospitals in the country in nine medical and nine patient safety categories.
The 2016 quality awards are from CareChex, a division of Comparion. The organization issues ratings designed to help hospitals improve quality and to help consumers better understand medical excellence and patient safety.
“These ratings are the result of the dedication and hard work that everyone at our hospital is putting into delivering the best care possible,” Executive Vice President and ARMC President Preston Hammock said. “We are very proud that people in our community are benefiting from the high-quality care at Alamance Regional Medical Center.”
ARMC was recognized for medical excellence in:
-Cardiac care;
-Gastrointestinal care;
-Gastrointestinal hemorrhage;
-General surgery;
-Heart attack treatment;
-Heart failure treatment;
-Major bowl procedures;
-Neurological care; and
-Stroke care.
ARMC was recognized for patient safety in:
-Overall medical care;
-Gastrointestinal care;
-Gastrointestinal hemorrhage;
-General surgery;
-Heart attack treatment;
-Heart failure treatment;
-Major bowel procedures;
-Neurological care; and
-Pulmonary care.
On average, several thousand hospitals are compared in each category.
“To be among the top 10 percent of hospitals in the country when it comes to the quality of care in these high-profile areas is extraordinary,” said Dr. Bruce Swords, Cone Health chief medical officer. “This is testimony to the work of our staff and proof that few places offer better health care than Alamance Regional Medical Center.”
CareChex uses six peer-reviewed methodologies, many of which are used nationally by the Healthcare Quality Alliance and Agency for Healthcare Research Quality:
-Core measures (adherence to scientifically researched standards of care);
-Inpatient quality indicators (set of measures using hospital administrative data);
-Patient safety indicators (the number of adverse events or avoidable medical errors);
-Mortality rates;
-Complication rates; and
-Patient satisfaction rates.
“CareChex allows the public to make informed decisions regarding the quality of medical care provided by Cone Health,” said Dr. Thane Forthman, CareChex medical analytics president and CEO. “We are pleased to acknowledge Alamance Regional Medical Center has achieved an exceptionally high level of performance for medical excellence and patient safety in several categories. Alamance Regional Medical Center’s performance is a benchmark other hospitals should seek to emulate.”
The awards are based on cumulative performance from the last three years of public data. Other highlights from the 2016 CareChex Quality Awards are on the included chart and atCareChex.com.