St. Luke’s is a Top 100 Hospital Again & Again!
St. Luke’s has once again been named as one of the 100 top-performing hospitals in the country. The 100 Top Hospitals award from Thomson Reuters recognizes hospitals that have achieved excellence in patient outcomes, patient safety, national treatment standards, patient satisfaction, efficiency and financial stability. Thomson Reuters is the nation’s leading source of healthcare information.
This is the third time St. Luke’s has received this distinction. According to Thomson Reuters, it is difficult to be selected as a national benchmark hospital every year. Research has shown that hospitals that win this award three or more times have particularly high levels of performance over many years. The study is objective and utilizes public data from the care of Medicare patients. Hospitals do not apply for, pay for, or complete an application to win the award.
To be named to the list, hospitals must achieve the highest national score based on the hospital’s combined rank on ten separate measures of hospital performance that affects patients and the community.
The study highlights just how a hospital with a Top 100 Hospital distinction can make a difference. For instance, if all Medicare inpatients throughout the country received the same level of care as those treated in a 100 Top Hospitals award winner like St. Luke’s, then:
- 98,000 additional patients would survive each year.
- About 197,000 patient complications would be avoided annually.
- Expenses would decrease by $5.5 billion a year.
- The average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.
St. Luke’s is one of only two hospitals in the state to win the award. St. Luke’s Iowa Health Systems affiliate, Finley Hospital in Dubuque, was the other award winner in Iowa.
“This distinction is a testament to the caliber of our medical and clinical staff as well as our initiative as an organization to provide exceptional healthcare to eastern Iowan,” said Ted Townsend, St. Luke’s President and CEO. “Each member of our organization – doctors, employees, board members, volunteers and administrators – played a key role in helping us achieve this recognition.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many hospitals are evaluated for the award?
A: The study evaluated nearly 3,000 acute care, non-federal hospitals- including St. Luke’s- in 10 areas: mortality, medical complications, patient safety, length of stay, expenses, profitability, patient satisfaction, standards of care, and post-discharge mortality and readmission rates for heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The study then compared St. Luke’s performance against similarly-sized hospitals across the country.
Q: Why is the award so important to eastern Iowans?
A: Having a 100 Top Hospitals award-winner in the community means:
-Patients are measurably less likely to have a complication, experience adverse safety issues, die unnecessarily, or be readmitted.
-Patients are more likely to receive efficient care at a reasonable cost.
-The community can rely on the hospital as a well-managed major employer that will continue to invest in technology and services that the community needs.
Q: Who performs the evaluations for the award and why?
A: Thomson Reuters is a global healthcare company that performs the objective study at its own expense, using only public Medicare patient data. Hospitals do not apply for, pay for, or complete an application to win the award.
Q: Why is it so difficult to win the award?
The award uses statistical information to select the top performers. The award winners must perform well across many measures, not just one.
Q: Where can I learn more about the award?
A: Read more about the 100 Top Hospitals award, including lists of the most recent winners, at www.100tophospitals.com.
