Andalusia Regional Hospital Named One of the Nation's 100 Top Hospitals by Thomson Reuters | Health

Andalusia, AL – March 28, 2011 – Andalusia Regional Hospital was today named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® by Thomson Reuters, a leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of healthcare.

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals® study evaluates performance in 10 areas: mortality; medical complications; patient safety; average patient stay; expenses; profitability; patient satisfaction; adherence to clinical standards of care; post-discharge mortality; and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, and pneumonia. The study has been conducted annually since 1993. This is the third time Andalusia Regional Hospital has been recognized with this honor.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized as one of the 100 Top Hospitals”, said hospital CEO Mark Dooley. “When you look at the performance areas included in the criteria, it is clear that this is an award that recognizes performance across all areas including patient safety, outcomes, satisfaction, efficiency, and finance. We are blessed with a staff that understands the importance of each of these and strives to excel every day. To be recognized for a third time is a testament to the commitment of our staff.”

To conduct the 100 Top Hospitals study, Thomson Reuters researchers evaluated 2,914 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals. They used public information — Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.

The winning hospitals were announced in the March 28 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.

“This year’s 100 Top Hospitals award winners have delivered exemplary results, despite volatility from healthcare reform," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president at Thomson Reuters. “The leadership teams at these organizations have dealt with enormous ambiguity, yet remained focused on mission and excellence across the hospital which drove national benchmarks to new highs.”

If all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities:

• Nearly 116,000 additional patients would survive each year.
• More than 197,000 patient complications would be avoided annually.
• Expense per adjusted discharge would drop by $462.
• The average patient stay would decrease by half a day.

If the same standards were applied to all inpatients, the impact would be even greater.

Andalusia Regional Hospital is a 113- bed acute care, medical-surgical facility that has been serving this area for over a quarter of a century. Andalusia Regional offers a wide-range of diagnostic, therapeutic, emergency and surgical services. At Andalusia Regional Hospital our mission is to be the hospital where patients choose to come for care; physicians choose to practice; and employees choose to work. For more information on Andalusia Regional Hospital please visit www.andalusiaregional.com.

More information on this study and other 100 Top Hospitals research is available at www.100tophospitals.com.