By JOY LOHSE
Marketing and Public Relations Director, Kosciusko Community Hospital

Kosciusko Community Hospital is amongst five Lutheran Health Network hospitals that were recently named a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in the United States.

Kosciusko Community Hospital, Bluffton Regional Medical Center, Dukes Memorial Hospital, Dupont Hospital and The Orthopedic Hospital of Lutheran Health Network were all recognized by The Joint Commission for exemplary performance in using evidence-based interventions that increase the chances of healthy outcomes for patients with certain conditions.

Those conditions include heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, children’s asthma, stroke, venous thromboembolism and perinatal care, as well as inpatient psychiatric services and immunizations.

Bluffton Regional Medical Center, Dukes Memorial, Dupont and The Orthopedic hospitals are four of only 147 hospitals nationally to achieve the Top Performer distinction in at least one key quality measure for all four years the program has been in existence. Kosciusko Community Hospital is one of only 712 hospitals nationally to earn recognition for the past two consecutive years.

“The Joint Commission is without question one of the greatest influences on the delivery of safe and quality healthcare nationally,” said Stephen R. Miller, chief executive officer, Lutheran Health Network KCH. “Having an independent source whose clear mission is so central to the daily operations of every hospital validate what you do on behalf of patients is significant. The consistency our network facilities have shown in this area is a testament to hard work and dedication of everyone who makes up the LHN family.”

Each recognized LHN facility met specific thresholds for these key quality measures:

• Bluffton Regional Medical Center                Pneumonia and Surgical Care
• Dukes Memorial Hospital                            Heart Attack and Surgical Care
• Dupont Hospital                                         Pneumonia and Surgical Care
• Kosciusko Community Hospital                  Pneumonia and Surgical Care
• The Orthopedic Hospital                             Surgical Care

The LHN facilities that were recognized are five of only 1,224 U.S. hospitals earning the distinction of Top Performer for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance during 2013. Top Performer organizations represent just 36.9 percent of all Joint Commission-accredited hospitals that reported accountability measure performance data last year.

“Delivering the right treatment in the right way at the right time is a cornerstone of high-quality health care. I commend the efforts of these Lutheran Health Network facilities for their excellent performance on the use of evidence-based interventions,” said Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president and CEO, The Joint Commission.

To be a 2013 Top Performer, hospitals had to meet three performance criteria based on 2013 accountability measure data, including:

• Achieving cumulative performance of 95 percent or above across all reported accountability measures;
• Achieving performance of 95 percent or above on each and every reported accountability measure where there were at least 30 denominator cases; and
• Having at least one core measure set that had a composite rate of 95 percent or above, and (within that measure set) all applicable individual accountability measures had a performance rate of 95 percent or above.

Visit www.jointcommission.org for a complete list of Top Performer hospitals. Top Performer hospitals are also highlighted in The Joint Commission’s 2014 annual report “America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety.” Additional information about accredited and certified healthcare organizations may be found at The Joint Commission’s Quality Check website Qualitycheck.org.