VHA Inc. recognizes 40 member organizations for clinical excellence

IRVING, Texas, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- VHA Inc., the national health care network, has awarded 40 hospitals and health systems its 2013 VHA Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence. Announced at VHA's Navigating to Excellence Forum in Las Vegas, awards are in two categories, Clinical Value Leadership and Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) Improvement Leadership, and recognize organizations for excellence in achieving national performance standards for clinical quality, safety and patient experience.

Clinical Value Leadership Award
VHA's Clinical Value Leadership Award recognizes organizations that achieve top performance in care measures tracked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Winners are selected based on a composite score consisting of three elements: 1) Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Total Performance Score, which includes Core Measures and the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Services (HCAHPS) survey results; 2) 30-day readmission rates; and 3) Medicare cost data.

Winners are distinguished in three categories:

Acute Care Hospitals, Bed size greater than 250

• Aultman Hospital, Canton, Ohio
• Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, Columbus, Miss.
• Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Boca Raton, Fla.
• Boone Hospital Center, Columbia, Mo.
• Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Saint Joseph, Mich.
• Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, Houston, Texas
• Metro Health Hospital, Wyoming, Mich.
• Owensboro Health, Owensboro, Ky.
• Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, Portland, Ore.

Non-Critical Access, Acute Care Hospitals Bed size less than 250

• Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Bozeman, Mont.
• Decatur Morgan Hospital – Decatur General Campus, Decatur, Ala.
• DuBois Regional Medical Center, Dubois, Pa.
• Falmouth Hospital, Falmouth, Mass.
• Hanover Hospital, Hanover, Pa.
• Holland Hospital, Holland, Mich.
• Inland Hospital, Waterville, Maine
• Mayo Clinic Health System in Red Wing, Red Wing, Minn.
• Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center, Jasper, Ind.
• Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital, Sullivan, Mo.

Critical Access, Acute Care Hospitals

• Down East Community Hospital, Machias, Maine
• First Care Medical Services, Fosston, Minn.
• Floyd Valley Hospital, Le Mars, Iowa
• Mayo Regional Hospital, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
• Muncy Valley Hospital, Muncy, Pa.
• Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, Hood River, Ore.
• Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, Polson, Mont.
• Redington Fairview General Hospital, Skowhegan, Maine
• Springfield Hospital, Springfiend, Vt.
• Taylorville Memorial Hospital, Taylorville, Ill.

Hospital Engagement Network Improvement Leadership Award
Health care organizations that selected VHA as their Hospital Engagement Network supporting CMS' Partnership for Patients initiative were eligible for VHA's first HEN Improvement Leadership Award. HENs commit to reduce select Hospital-Acquired Conditions by 40 percent and preventable readmissions by 20 percent over a three-year period. Winners in this category showed substantial improvement on their baseline performance measures in at least one of 10 patient safety areas of focus.

The following VHA HEN participants are being recognized for top overall performance and improvement activity in 2012:

• Baptist Medical Center South, Montgomery, Ala.
• Doctors Hospital, Coral Gables, Fla.
• Grady General Hospital, Cairo, Ga.
• INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
• INTEGRIS Canadian Valley Hospital, Yukon, Okla.
• Jamestown Regional Medical Center, Jamestown, N.D.
• Stafford Hospital, Stafford, Va.
• Stormont-Vail HealthCare, Topeka, Kan.
• Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Tallahassee, Fla.
• West Kendall Baptist Hospital, Miami, Fla.

"The leaders and staff in these organizations have shown their dedication to providing not only consistently high levels of clinical care but also continually improving that performance to produce better outcomes for their patients," said Steve Miff, PhD, VHA's senior vice president for Clinical and Care Delivery Solutions. "Since the passing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the health care industry has moved quickly to establish and meet performance quality metrics and align care protocol. We are especially proud of these VHA organizations for exceptional performance against national key indicators."

About VHA
VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance, and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. Since 1977, VHA has leveraged its expertise in analytics, contracting, consulting and networks to help members achieve their operational, clinical and financial objectives. In 2011, VHA delivered record savings and value of $1.9 billion to members. VHA serves more than 1,350 hospitals and more than 72,000 non-acute care providers nationwide, coordinating delivery of its programs and services through its 13 regional offices. For more information, visit www.vha.com and follow us on Twitter (@VHAInc).

SOURCE VHA Inc.