Bethesda North Recognized for Excelling in High-Value Care

June 15, 2011

Bethesda North Hospital, a TriHealth hospital, has been recognized by a national healthcare alliance for reducing harm, mortality and cost of care, while increasing patient satisfaction and adherence to clinical evidence.

Bethesda North is one of only six hospitals nationwide to receive the Premier healthcare alliance’s inaugural QUEST Award for High Value in Healthcare for reaching the top performance thresholds in Premier’s QUEST®: High Performing Hospitals collaborative. Additionally, Bethesda North is the only Greater Cincinnati hospital to be recognized by this national quality improvement collaborative as a top quartile performer in all five of the following categories:

• Mortality: Eliminate avoidable hospital deaths.
• Cost of Care: Safely reduce the cost of care for each patient's hospitalization.
• Evidence-Based Care: Deliver the most reliable and effective care based on national guidelines that follow proven practices.
• Harm: Improve patient safety by preventing harm in 25 categories, including infections and birth injuries.
• Patient Experience: Improve the patient's overall care experience.

"For years we have been focused on quality, safety and service as our top priorities," said John Prout, president and CEO of TriHealth and Bethesda North Hospital. "The QUEST Award for High Value in Healthcare is just one more point of proof that our hard work is paying off for our patients, and that’s what makes us proud – the fact that we can look our patients in the eye and tell them that the care they are receiving is not only the best that Greater Cincinnati has to offer, but also ranked among the top in the country."

Winners, including Bethesda North Hospital, are being recognized today at Premier’s annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in Nashville, Tennessee.

QUEST members participating since 2009 (185 of today’s 250 participants) were eligible for the award. Top performance thresholds were established at the top quartile of performance from a baseline period in all measures except Cost of Care, which was based on the median of the total inpatient cost per case mix adjusted discharge. Top performance for each dimension varied depending on the unique measure calculation and methodology.

In the first 30 months of the collaborative, QUEST hospitals saved an estimated 25,235 lives and $2.85 billion in costs. Participants’ observed mortality is 5 percent lower than non-participants when compared to what is expected, having dropped 23 percent. Furthermore, national costs for inpatient care have increased by 21 percent over the course of the project, compared to a mere 4 percent cost increase among the QUEST hospitals.