South Baldwin Regional Medical Center Earns ‘Top Performer on Key Quality MeasuresTM’ Recognition from The Joint Commission

(Foley, AL) September 20, 2012– South Baldwin Regional Medical Center today was named one of the nation’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America. The hospital was recognized by The Joint Commission for exemplary performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, children’s asthma, stroke and venous thrombo embolism, as well as inpatient psychiatric services.

South Baldwin Regional Medical Center is one of 620 hospitals in the U.S., and one of 19 in Alabama earning the distinction of Top Performer on Key Quality Measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance. South Baldwin Regional Medical Center was recognized for its achievement on the following measure sets: Heart Attack, Heart Failure, Pneumonia and Surgical Care. The ratings are based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported to The Joint Commission during the 2011 calendar year. The list of Top Performers represents 18 percent of more than 3,400 eligible accredited hospitals reporting data.

This is the second year in a row that South Baldwin Regional Medical Center is being recognized as a Top Performer. South Baldwin Regional Medical Center is one of only 244 hospitals that achieved the distinction two years in a row. Last year, South Baldwin Regional Medical Center was recognized by The Joint Commission for its achievement on the following measure sets: Heart Failure, Pneumonia and Surgical Care.

Each of the hospitals named as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures met two 95 percent performance thresholds. First, the hospital achieved performance of 95 percent or above on the composite score that includes all the accountability measures for which it reported data to The Joint Commission for calendar year 2011. Second, recognized hospitals met or exceeded a 95 percent performance target for each and every accountability measure for which they reported data to The Joint Commission, excluding any measures with fewer than 30 eligible cases.

A 95 percent score means a hospital provided an evidence-based practice 95 times out of 100 opportunities to provide the practice.

Each accountability measure represents an evidence-based practice -- for example, giving aspirin at arrival for heart attack patients, giving antibiotics one hour before surgery, and providing a home management plan for children with asthma.

“When we raise the bar and provide the proper guidance and tools, hospitals have responded with excellent results,” said Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president, The Joint Commission. “This capacity for continual improvement points toward a future in which quality and safety defects are dramatically reduced and high reliability is sought and achieved with regularity. Such day-to-day progress will slowly but surely transform today’s health care system into one that achieves unprecedented performance outcomes for the benefit of the patients.”

“We understand that what matters most to patients at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center is safe, effective care. That’s why South Baldwin Regional Medical Center has made a commitment to accreditation and to positive patient outcomes through evidence-based processes. South Baldwin Regional Medical Center is proud to be named to the list of The Joint Commission’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures,” said Keith Newton, CEO, South Baldwin Regional Medical Center.

South Baldwin Regional Medical Center is a 112 bed, acute care hospital with 725 employees and has a network of medical clinics serving Baldwin County. A dedicated and experienced medical staff offers over 32 medical specialties and the hospital offers services ranging from comprehensive digital imaging, a 24-hour emergency department, a 24-hour, 7 day a week certified Urgent Care Center and Imaging Center in Gulf Shores.

The hospital has received numerous awards and recognition, including the Press Ganey Summit Award, The Joint Commission’s Top Performer in Key Quality Measures 2010, an “A” Hospital Safety Score by the Leapfrog Group and named to Modern Healthcare “Best Places to Work” in Healthcare for 2012. For more information, call (251) 949-3479 or visit www.SouthBaldwinRMC.com.  

From left: Keith Newton, CEO, South Baldwin Regional Medical Center
and Margaret Roley, CNO, South Baldwin Regional Medical Center.