Cary Medical Center, in Caribou announced today it has been named by iVantage Health Analytics as a 2014 HEALTHSTRONG Hospital. The honor caps a new series of awards recognizing the hospital for clinical quality and patient satisfaction. Kris Doody, RN, MSB, and Chief Executive Officer at Cary said that this most recent award is a tribute to the hospital’s efforts to “raise the bar,” once again.
“Cary Medical Center is proud to be recognized as a HEALTHSTRONG Hospital,” said Doody who announced the awards during a hospital managers meeting on Thursday, March 20. “We place a tremendous emphasis on quality, performance and satisfaction and this honor is positive proof that our efforts are making a difference to the hospital and local community we serve. I am delighted to be able to celebrate this award with our physicians, staff and community.”
The 2014 HEALTHSTRONG Hospitals highlights top performing hospitals rated as part of iVantage’s Hospital Strength INDEX. The hospital strength index is the industry’s most comprehensive ratings system, leveraging publicly available data to measure more than 4,299 acute care hospital’s markets, including 1,300 Critical Access Hospitals. Hospitals are measured across ten equally weighted pillars of performance encompassing 66 different metrics: competitive strength, competitive intensity, market size and growth, population risk, cost, charge, quality, outcomes, patient perspective and financial stability. The combined scores across each pillar determines the hospital’s index.
iVantage identified and profiled U.S. hospitals with consideration for the wellness, cost, and population management effects in their markets. 547 of the 4,299 hospitals profiled earned the HEALTHSTRONG recognition. More information can be found at http://www.ivantagehealth.com/2014-healthstrong-hospitals/.
“iVantage seeks to help hospitals meet the demands of the new healthcare by providing a new level of transparency into the internal and external metrics which drive more informed decision making,” said John R. Morrow, executive vice president of iVantage Health Analytics. “The Hospital Strength INDEX analysis reveals that geographic variation, population health and superior performance are interrelated. They can result in lower cost, better outcomes and healthier communities nationwide.”
This award comes at a time when Cary is receiving additional national recognition for quality. The hospital’s Women’s Imaging Center has just received the Women’s Choice Award as One of America’s Best Breast Centers, by Women Certified.
Doody accepted the award and acknowledged the efforts of hospital personnel.
“We are so proud of our new Women’s Imaging Center and our staff who provide such incredible service to patients and their families. This recognition by Women Certified is further evidence that women in Aroostook County recognize and appreciate the high level of clinical quality and patient satisfaction they experience in our facility.”
Cary Medical Center earned the award by having met the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) standards from the American College of Surgeons. The NAPBC is a consortium of national and professional organizations focused on breast health and dedicated to the improvement of quality care, as well as outcomes of patients with diseases of the breast through evidence-based standards and patient and professional education. As one of America’s Best Breast Centers, Cary Medical Center’s Women’s Imaging Center also carries the Seal of the American College of Radiologists as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, and scored above-average on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services patient satisfaction measures.
This is the second year in a row that Cary Medical Center has been recognized by Women Certified. In 2013 the hospital received the “Women’s Choice Award” for “Best Patient Experience in Obstetrics.”
“Being honored with the award for Obstetrics and now receiving the 2014 Women’s Choice Award as one of America’s Best Breast Centers is a humbling experience for us and a tribute to the outstanding performance of our entire healthcare team”, said Doody. “We are so grateful to the many donors, including our own staff, who helped us raise more than $800,000 for the new Women’s Imaging Center and have helped to make this recognition possible.”
Cary has also learned that it has once again scored ‘A’ in the Leapfrog Group Hospital Patient Safety Survey. The Leapfrog Hospital Survey is the gold standard for comparing hospitals’ performance on the national standards of safety, quality, and efficiency that are most relevant to consumers and purchasers of care. Leapfrog’s purchaser members use Survey results to inform their employees and purchasing strategies. In 2009, 1206 hospitals across the country completed The Leapfrog Hospital Survey. Hospitals that participate in The Leapfrog Hospital Survey achieve hospital-wide improvements that translate into millions of lives and dollars saved.
