Area hospitals ranked by national organization
Washington Hospital received four stars out of a possible five in a national rating system released Wednesday.
The updated Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services evaluates up to 64 quality measures such as mortality, safety of care, patient experience and readmission.
The most common rating across the state – and country – was three stars, earned by Monongahela Valley Hospital, Washington Health System-Greene and St. Clair Hospital. Canonsburg Hospital earned two stars.
“Clearly, we were one of the few hospitals in Western Pennsylvania able to get the four-star rating,” said Gary B. Weinstein, Washington Hospital president and chief executive officer. “I think it’s a real tribute to our team of caregivers who do a great job every day.”
The rating shows how well each hospital performed compared to other U.S. hospitals. CMS rated 3,617 hospitals, of which 102 received five stars.
Washington ranked above the national average in safety of care, patient experience, effectiveness of care and timeliness of care, and ranked below the national average in readmission.
Hospital industry leaders opposed the ranking, claiming hospitals with the most difficult cases rate poorly.
“Health care consumers making critical decisions about their care cannot be expected to rely on a rating system that raises far more questions than answers. And it adds yet another to a long list of conflicting rating and ranking systems,” stated Rick Pollack, American Hospital Association president and chief executive officer, in a press release.
Monongahela Valley Hospital spokeswoman Corrine Laboon encouraged patients to consult with their physicians when making a decision about hospital care.
“We just believe that consumers really should have accurate and useful information to make the best choice for themselves and their families,” Laboon said. “We are not convinced, based on the methodology used, this was the best system.”
Weinstein said in any ranking system, there are strengths and weaknesses. But, he said, Washington has also ranked well in other recent surveys, including an “A” rating in hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit that advocates quality and safety of health care, and a “high” rating in overall hospital care from CareChex, an organization that ranks hospitals.
“(CMS) is a new system. I think it will be tweaked,” he said. “But when you start to put this one in the context of others, I think it’s something our community can be proud of.”
Some measures used to calculate ratings were based only on data from Medicare patients, like readmissions and deaths, and some were based on data from all patients, like patient experience, safety, and timely and effective care measures.
For more information, visit www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare/search.