Mat-Su Regional named ‘Top Performer’

PALMER — The Joint Commission, the leading accrediting agency of United States health care organizations, has named Mat-Su Regional Medical Center one of the nation’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures.

The hospital was one of 1,099 hospitals recognized for exemplary performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions. These conditions include heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, children’s asthma, stroke and venous thrombo-embolism, as well as inpatient psychiatric services. The ratings are based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported to The Joint Commission during the 2012 calendar year.

“Mat-Su Regional’s first priority is providing patients with high-quality, safe and effective care through proven practices that improve outcomes and the patient experience. We are proud to be named to The Joint Commission’s list of Top Performers. The credit goes to our medical staff, employees and volunteers whose hard work every day makes this possible,” said John Lee, CEO for Mat-Su Regional.

“The clinicians at Mat-Su Regional are dedicated to treating patients with established protocols to give them the best possible outcomes,” said Dr. Bruce Hess, medical director at Mat-Su Regional. “It’s an honor to have the standard of care we provide here recognized on a national level.”

Hospitals named Top Performers scored 95 percent in three performance areas. A 95 percent score means a hospital provided an evidence-based practice 95 times out of 100 opportunities to provide the practice. Each accountability measure represents an evidence-based practice — for example, giving aspirin at arrival for heart attack patients, giving antibiotics one hour before surgery and providing a home management plan for children with asthma.

“Mat-Su Regional and all the Top Performer hospitals have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to quality improvement and they should be proud of their achievement,” said Dr. Mark R. Chassin, president and chief executive officer for The Joint Commission. “We have much to celebrate this year. Nearly half of our accredited hospitals have attained or nearly attained the Top Performer distinction. This truly shows that we are approaching a tipping point in hospital quality performance that will directly contribute to better health outcomes for patients.”