Lakeside Medical Center recently was named one of the nation’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures by the Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in the United States.
Lakeside Medical Center, which is owned and operated by the Healthcare District of Palm Beach County, 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 and venous thrombo embolism, as well as inpatient psychiatric services.
“We are very proud of the dedication and commitment of Lakeside Medical Center’s physicians, nurses and staff in providing quality medical care,” said Dr. Ronald J. Wiewora, the healthcare district’s chief executive officer and chief medical officer. “This recognition highlights all of their hard work since the hospital opened three years ago to serve the rural communities in western Palm Beach County.”
Lakeside Medical Center, the county’s only public hospital, 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. Lakeside Medical Center was recognized for its achievement on the following measure sets: heart failure, 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.
“We understand that what matters most to patients at Lakeside Medical Center is safe, effective care,” said Darcy J. Davis, the healthcare district’s chief institutional officer. “That is why Lakeside Medical Center has made a commitment to accreditation and to positive patient outcomes through evidence-based care processes. Lakeside Medical Center is honored to be named to the list of the Joint Commission’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures.”
Hospital Administrator Thomas J. Leach said he is proud of Lakeside Medical Center’s staff “for always putting quality at the forefront of what we do. This recognition is a testament to the quality healthcare our hospital delivers to patients in the Glades.”
Each of the hospitals that were named as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures met two 95 percent (95/95) 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. Each accountability measure represents an evidence-based 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,” Joint Commission President Dr. Mark R. Chassin said. “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 healthcare system into one that achieves unprecedented performance outcomes for the benefit of the patients.”
In addition to being included in the release of the Joint Commission’s Improving America’s Hospitals annual report, Lakeside Medical Center will be recognized on the Joint Commission’s Quality Check web site (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.
For more information, visit Lakeside Medical Center’s web site at www.lakesidemedical.org.
Above: (Front row, L-R) Darcy Davis, Nancy Banner, Juan Cocuy, Sandra Chamblee and Health Department Director Dr. Alina Alonso; (back row) Brian Lohmann, Dr. Ronald Wiewora, Thomas Leach, Philip Ward III and Carol Roberts.
