Eleven S.C. hospitals ranked as top performers in 2011

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Premier health care alliance’s national Quest collaborative ranked 11 S.C. hospitals out of 121 nationwide as top performers. To be a top performer, hospitals must increase delivery of recommended evidence-based care while reducing avoidable mortalities and the cost of care.

Staff Report
Published Jan. 17, 2012

Eleven hospitals in South Carolina were ranked as top-performing hospitals out of 121 nationwide, according to the Premier health care alliance’s national Quest collaborative.

Nine of the S.C. hospitals will receive a monetary award from a $2 million pool. The amounts have not been disclosed yet.

2011 Top Performers Baptist Easley Hospital Bon Secours Health System Inc.: Bon Secours St. Francis Downtown Memorial Regional Medical Center Georgetown Hospital System: Georgetown Memorial Hospital* Waccamaw Community Hospital* Greenville Hospital System: Greenville Memorial Hospital Greer Memorial Hospital Hillcrest Memorial Hospital McLeod Regional Medical Center Self Regional Healthcare Palmetto Health Alliance Palmetto Health Richland *The Georgetown Hospital System will not receive a monetary award from the $2 million pool. Check out last year’s results here.

Of the 278 hospitals participating nationwide, there were 121 hospitals that had top performance in the measures of evidence-based care, mortality and costs. Among the 121, 95 Quest hospitals were charter members, meaning they have participated in the program for three years, and will receive some funding.

To be a top performer, hospitals must increase delivery of recommended evidence-based care to every patient, every time. For example, providing flu vaccinations to all pneumonia patients, or prescribing a high blood pressure medication to all heart attack patients prior to discharge. Hospitals must also reduce avoidable hospital mortalities and the cost of care for each patient's hospitalization.

Quest supports hospitals in delivering the best care and sharing collaborative solutions to improve health care nationwide and influence public policies. Together, the current 278 Quest members share ideas, strategies and proven practices to reduce variation, an approach that has been shown to improve care quality, safety and cost.

In 30 months, Quest members have saved 25,235 lives and reduced health care spending by $2.85 billion through the delivery of high quality, evidence-based care to 63,094 patients, according to a news release.

“These hospitals challenged themselves to overcome process failures and excessive costs by measuring themselves against each other to drive success,” said Premier President and CEO Susan DeVore. “The achievements made by Quest members are remarkable as they continue to reveal what is possible in health care.”

Premier is a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals and more than 80,000 other health care sites. Owned by hospitals, health systems and other providers, Premier has a repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a health care purchasing network. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier also has an office in Washington, D.C.