Quality Measures

A number of national organizations collect and report health care quality data. Some reports are voluntary, and others, like the reporting of hospital acquired infections, are required in South Carolina. At Providence Hospitals, we eagerly and aggressively participate. By comparing our data with others across the country, we can determine and quickly adopt the nation’s best practices.

Many different organizations, including individual hospitals, release information on quality and patient safety, which can be confusing. Visit www.mySChospital.org created by the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) and its member hospitals to educate the public about the quality and safety of care provided in South Carolina hospitals.

The Joint Commission and Hospital Compare

The two external organizations that Providence Hospitals looks to help gauge our progress are the Joint Commission and Hospital Compare. The organizations track a number of documented best practices, each of which has been proven to generate better outcomes for patients.

The following charts illustrate how Providence Hospitals compares with state and national averages in standards of care for Acute Miocardial Infarction (heart attack), Heart Failure, Pneumonia and in the Surgical Care Improvement Project.

Hospital Acquired Infections

Certain hospital acquired infections are reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Healthcare Safety Network data system, and publicly displayed through the South Carolina Department of Environmental Control's Web site. For an infection to be classified as a hospital acquired infection there must be no evidence that it was present at the time of admission to the hospital. 

Common control processes in place to prevent infections are:

• Effective hand washing
• Use of protective equipment as necessary
• Use of infection control checklist when inserting IV lines

Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, or CABG (the most commonly performed open-heart surgery)

Providence Hospital performs more Coronary Artery Bypass Graft procedures than any other hospital in South Carolina, and our infection rate per 100 procedures was 0.3. That’s less than 20% of the average infection rate (1.7) compared with the next nine South Carolina hospitals in terms of procedure volume, and lower than any of the next eight hospitals on the list.

CABG Hospital Acquired Infection Rates

Other Procedures Hospital Acquired Infection Rates

Patient Satisfaction

In addition to measuring clinical quality, the government measures overall patient satisfaction through a program called Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey, or HCAHPS. Patients are asked a number of questions about how happy they were with the hospital and its staff.

To view or compare HCAHPS data, go to  http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/Hospital.

In addition, Providence Hospitals partners with Press Ganey to measure several areas in regards to our patients’ point of views on the quality of service and care that they receive while with us.  In key areas, Providence Hospitals consistently ranks among the top hospitals in the nation.

Source: Press Ganey Benchmarking report 12/01/2009 to 02/28/2010