ARMONK, N.Y., April 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM Watson
Health™ (NYSE: IBM) today published its 15 Top Health
Systems™ annual study identifying top-performing health
systems in the U.S. based on overall organizational
performance. This study spotlights the best–performing
hospitals in the U.S. using a balanced scorecard that reviews
publicly available data for clinical, operational and patient
satisfaction metrics. Conducted annually since 2008, the 15 Top
Health Systems study is part of the Watson Health 100 Top
Hospitals® program, which leverages advanced data, science and
analytics capabilities to calculate hospital and health system
performance benchmarks.
The 15 Top Health Systems study found that the top-performing
health systems in the country achieved better risk-adjusted
outcomes and higher patient satisfaction scores while
simultaneously maintaining a lower average cost per patient than
other health systems evaluated in the study.1
"The multi-year trend toward increased healthcare
consolidation2 has shined a spotlight on health system
performance, illuminating both the challenges of coordinating care
across multiple facilities and the opportunities that can come with
scale," said Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals® program leader
at IBM Watson Health. "The institutions recognized in the IBM
Watson Health 15 Top Health Systems study are providing a blueprint
for how to improve quality, lower costs and achieve outstanding
patient satisfaction on a consistent basis."
Kyu Rhee, M.D., M.P.P., vice
president and chief health officer at IBM Watson Health, added:
"The growing trend of hospital consolidation into larger, more
complex health systems has yielded benefits3, but it
also has presented challenges to hospital administrators who must
now integrate disparate data sets, acquire actionable insights and
assure the health of larger communities. These winning health
systems are demonstrating the power of aligning best practices,
including utilizing data, across multiple hospitals to achieve
greater efficiency while delivering a higher overall quality of
care."
The following are the key performance measurements on which 15
Top Health Systems showed the most significant average
outperformance versus peer group health systems (full study results
available here). Top health systems demonstrated:
- Fewer Deaths: Overall, 13.8 percent fewer
in-hospital deaths.
- Fewer Complications and Infections: Patients experienced
12.6 percent fewer complications and 9.8 percent fewer
healthcare-associated infections.
- Shorter Length of Stay: A median severity-adjusted
length of stay that was one half-day shorter (0.5) than peers.
- Shorter Emergency Department Wait Times: Overall,
median emergency department wait times that were 38 minutes shorter
per patient.
- Lower Spend: Combined in-hospital and
post-discharge costs were 1.1 percent lower per episode.
- Higher Patient Satisfaction: Overall hospital
experience, as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of
Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), was rated 2.5 percent
higher for leading health systems.
The Watson Health 15 Top Health Systems study evaluates health
system performance across nine clinical and operational performance
benchmarks: risk-adjusted inpatient mortality index, risk-adjusted
complications index, mean healthcare-associated infection index,
mean 30-day risk-adjusted mortality rate, mean 30-day risk-adjusted
readmission rate, severity-adjusted length of stay, mean emergency
department throughput, Medicare spend per beneficiary index and
HCAHPS score. This year, IBM Watson Health also began testing a
series of new measures that update the basic standards of inpatient
care, including outpatient imaging efficiency for breast and chest
scans, process of care for severe sepsis and septic shock, 30-day
all-cause, hospital-wide readmissions, 30- and 90-day episode of
care payment measures, excess days in acute care measures and
90-day complication measures.
Extrapolating the results of this year's study, if all Medicare
inpatients were similarly situated and received the same level of
care as those treated in the Watson Health 15 Top Health Systems
facilities:
- More than 60,000 additional lives could be saved;
- More than 26,000 additional patients could be
complication-free;
- Healthcare-associated infections would be reduced by 10%;
and
- Patients would spend 38 minutes less in hospital emergency
rooms per visit.
To conduct the 15 Top Health Systems study, IBM Watson Health
researchers evaluated 337 health systems and 2,961 health system
member hospitals. All research was based on the following public
data sets: Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and
Review (MEDPAR) data, and Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs)
and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website. Hospitals do not
apply to participate in the study, and winning hospitals and
systems do not pay to market this honor.
For more information, visit www.100tophospitals.com.
Here are the leading health systems, by category:
Large Health Systems
Avera Health – Sioux Falls,
SD
Mayo Foundation – Rochester, MN
Mercy – Chesterfield, MO
St. Luke's Health System – Boise, ID
UCHealth – Aurora, CO
Medium Health Systems
Edward-Elmhurst Health – Naperville,
IL
HealthPartners – Bloomington, MN
Mercy Health, Cincinnati – Cincinnati, OH
Parkview Health – Fort Wayne,
IN
TriHealth – Cincinnati, OH
Small Health Systems
Asante – Medford, OR
Aspirus – Wausau, WI
PIH Health – Whittier, CA
ProHealth Care – Waukesha, WI
Spectrum Health Lakeland – St. Joseph,
MI
About the IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals®
Program
The IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals, formerly the Truven
Health Analytics 100 Top Hospitals, program uses independent and
objective research to analyze hospital and health system
performance. The program's annual studies include 100 Top
Hospitals, 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals and 15
Top Health Systems. Organizations do not apply or pay for this
honor or pay to promote their award. Award-winning hospitals and
health systems prove that better care is possible and provide an
example for other organizations to follow across the industry. The
100 Top Hospitals award winners demonstrate top performance on both
how patients are cared for under clinical measures and how the
hospital performs as an efficient business. 100 Top Hospitals is a
registered trademark of Truven Health Analytics, part of the IBM
Watson Health business. Visit 100tophospitals.com for
more information.
About IBM Watson Health
Watson Health is a business unit of IBM that is dedicated to the
development and implementation of cognitive and data-driven
technologies to advance health. Watson Health technologies are
tackling a wide range of the world's biggest health care
challenges, including cancer, diabetes, drug discovery and
more. Learn more.
CONTACTS
Rachel Ford
Hutman
rachel.hutman@ibm.com
301-801-5540
1
https://www.ibm.com/watson-health/services/100-top
2
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/journal-article/2017/sep/health-care-market-concentration-trends-united-states
3
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/strategy/consolidation-comes-benefits-and-costs?page=0%2C1
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