‘Top Cities for Hospital Care' lists Knoxville at 20th
1/24/2012
Knoxville placed 20th in the "Top Cities for Hospital Care" by Health Grades Inc. The comparison is based on mortality and complication rates among Medicare patients. Health Grades recognized hospitals that achieved clinical excellence, then compared cities according to the percentage of their hospitals that made the mark.
The company, which lets consumers rate medical providers on its website, www.healthgrades.com, looked at the 26 most common diagnoses and procedures for Medicare patients, ranging from bowel obstruction to knee replacement.
"This is about 40 million records," said Kristin Reed, the Health Grades executive who authored the report. "It is every Medicare hospitalization from 2008 to 2010 for those 26 diagnoses and procedures. Those are the highest volume conditions for Medicare patients."
Health Grades has evaluated hospitals for more than a decade, but last year it began using the citations to compare cities.
Hospitals in and near Tennessee recognized for distinguished clinical excellence include Memorial Healthcare System and Hamilton Medical Center (Chattanooga area), Blount Memorial Hospital and Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge (Knoxville area), Saint Thomas Hospital (Nashville area), and Indian Path Medical Center (Tri-Cities area.)
Only markets with four or more hospitals were evaluated.
"I'm delighted that we have hospitals in Tennessee continuing to be added to the list and to show improvement," said Chris Clarke, a senior vice president with the Tennessee Hospital Association. "We're always delighted when any part of our state shows up as a good place to get care."
Hospitals in Tennessee have worked closely together to improve quality of care outcomes since 2007 when the THA established the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety. Since then, hospitals have reduced central line-associated bloodstream infections and are working on other fronts.
Clarke said a basic goal is to deploy best practices sooner.
Source: WBIR