Patient safety at both PVH, NCMC near top nationally

Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins and North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley are among the safest hospitals in the state and the nation, according to a study by HealthGrades, a Golden-based hospital and physician rating company.

The performance of PVH and NCMC during the time period studied – 2005-2007 – placed them in the top 5 percent of hospitals in America and earned them the distinction of HealthGrades’ Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence.

The study, based on outcomes of Medicare patients for 26 of the most common diagnoses and procedures, showed patients treated at PVH, NCMC and 268 other hospitals across the nation were on average 27 percent less likely to die than patients treated at all other hospitals.

The study also found that patients who have surgery at the high-performing hospitals have an average 8 percent lower risk of complications during their stay.

“This study echoes others that have found distinct quality gaps between top-performing hospitals and others,´ said Rick May, M.D., HealthGrades’ senior physician consultant and an author of the study. “Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence comprise a group of hospitals that excel across the board, not just in one or two specialties, and they should be commended for their relentless commitment to exceptional patient care.”

Rick Sutton, NCMC president, said the HealthGrades designation underscores NCMC’s commitment to patient care and the dedication of its physicians, nurses and health-care professionals. “What I think it says is we have a great staff,” he said. “That’s an outside agency saying it, not me saying it. It just reaffirms where we are in the market.”

For PVH, it was the third year in a row it has earned the Distinguished Hospital designation. Kevin Unger, PVH president, said the accolade is appreciated. “We’re always excited about a designation that looks favorably upon us, no question,” he said. “Quality over the last 10 years has been a focus for us and we try to get external validation for that and we appreciate it.”

Unger said the ongoing designation for PVH gives the hospital some well-deserved bragging rights. “We have some of the best physicians and nurses in our community and I would put them up against the best in the nation,” he said.

Last year, the Poudre Valley Health System, which includes PVH and Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, was awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for health care.

Other Colorado hospitals receiving HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital designations for 2009 were Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center and Rose Medical Center in Denver, Littleton Adventist Hospital and Centura Health-Penrose Saint Francis Health Services in Colorado Springs.

HealthGrades, founded in 1995, provides quality ratings and cost information on 5,000 U.S. hospitals and 16,000 nursing homes and online profiles of 650,000 physicians. The company claims more than 6 million unique visitors to its Web site each month.

Neutral data

The company makes most of its money from contracts with hospitals that get to use HealthGrades data and from consulting on quality improvement issues.

Both PVH and NCMC have earned numerous awards and citations from HealthGrades in recent years, but neither hospital has a contract with HealthGrades to use its data for promotional purposes.

“Their business model just doesn’t make sense to us,” Unger said. “We don’t feel we should pay to use their logo. I don’t want to disparage HealthGrades by any means, but it’s our patients talking to their friends and neighbors that makes the difference for us.”

Scott Shapiro, a HealthGrades spokesman, said whether a hospital chooses to have a contract with the company is not relevant to HealthGrades’ mission. “HealthGrades rates the quality of care of every hospital in the country,” he said. “Whether a hospital chooses to license (with us) is a different question.”

Shapiro said the primary goal of HealthGrades’ ratings is to provide objective information to health-care consumers. “When HealthGrades rates hospitals, we do so independently and the ratings are based objectively on mortality and complication rates. We do it so patients can compare the quality of care for different outcomes and can choose the best hospitals,” he added. “Whether or not hospitals decide to license and crow about their awards is a separate question and that’s up to the hospital.”

Unger said he was glad to hear that both NCMC and PVH – representing two competing health care systems in Northern Colorado – were rated Distinguished Hospitals in the latest HealthGrades survey.

“I think it’s great that NCMC was also designated,” he said. “It’s important that everyone in Northern Colorado gets top-quality care.”

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