Thomson Reuters recently ranked the University Medical Center as one of the 100 Top Hospitals in the United States and one of the top 15 major teaching hospitals.
This is the eighth time the hospital has been named one of the 100 Top Hospitals, University Health System spokesperson Sally Jones said.
“The hospital’s very proud to have received this honor yet again,” she said. “The 100 Top Hospitals are chosen because they have higher survival rates, keep more patients complication-free and have lower expenses — all while maintaining financial stability. It’s a testament for us that we’re able to maintain the highest level of excellence.”
The rankings are based on a measurement of the reliability and strength of the hospital in serving the community, said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals at Thomson Reuters. The specific rankings are not released because the goal of the survey is to come up with a common benchmark.
“The balanced score card requires that you look at a series of major performance areas that are important for the hospital to function well as an organization,” she said, “and all of our measures are equally weighted.”
Thomson Reuters uses only publicly available data like Medicare billing files and Medicare cost reports that reflect the costs and expenses of the entire hospital, Chenoweth said. The rankings are also based on patient satisfaction, adherence to evidence-based medicine and clinical quality.
“Core measures are reflective of treating the patient the way they should be treated according to standard practices of care,” she said.
Thomson Reuters allows for the fact that different hospitals should be measured by different standards, though. It adjusts the rankings in terms of risk, so that hospitals with very sick patients are not unfairly compared to hospitals without them, Chenoweth said. Hospitals are also divided based on their type and size. The University Medical Center, therefore, is compared with other major teaching hospitals, whereas a hospital like Martha Jefferson Hospital is compared to other medium-size community hospitals.
Chenoweth noted that the entire Charlottesville community has a strong health system because both hospitals have been on the list of top hospitals.
Hospitals on the list have strong cultures of performance improvement and care quality, Chenoweth said.
“It’s an organization where change and improvement is a constant, rather than a major event,” she said. A hospital on the 100 Top Hospitals list is cognizant of patient satisfaction, able to react quickly to change and active in seeking to improve efficiently, Chenoweth said.
“U.Va. has consistently been a very high performer over the years, and not just across the clinical measures,” she said, explaining that the University Medical Center has high scores on patient perception of care and is financially secure.
“That’s the meaning of being a benchmark hospital,” she said. “It’s setting the bar very high which for other hospitals to follow, and the beneficiary is your community.”
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