Houston Healthcare Facilities Make Quality Honor Roll

Houston Medical Center and Perry Hospital are two of 56 hospitals in Georgia to be named to the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Quality Honor Roll in the Presidential category. There are three categories of the Honor Roll: Basic, where a hospital must be rated at 91 to 92.9 percent on appropriate care management; Presidential, 93 to 97 percent; and Chairman’s, 98 to 100 percent. The honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), which administers the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The data was collected from July 2009 to June 2010.

“This is a great accomplishment for Houston Medical Center and Perry Hospital,” said Joseph Parker, president of GHA. “This recognition further underscores the commitment of Houston Healthcare’s staff to ensure that every patient receives the best, most effective health care possible.”

All acute care hospitals are required to submit care data to CMS. This data details how well a hospital’s caregivers adhere to a list of eight Appropriate Care Measures (ACM), which are the clinical processes of care that are known to be the most effective methods of treatment for patients who have suffered heart attacks, heart failure or pneumonia. The ACM is a composite measure that determines whether or not a patient received the right care at the right time.

For instance, a recommended treatment to help prevent a heart attack is to take aspirin either before or upon arrival at the hospital, as well as at discharge. A suggested treatment for pneumonia is to administer an antibiotic within four hours of a patient’s arrival. A hospital’s adherence to these recommended clinical practices usually leads to better outcomes.

“We are proud of our employees and honored to be recognized by GHA with this recognition. We strive daily to ensure that each of our patients receives the right care at the right time and in the same compassionate manner we would treat our own family members,” said Cary Martin, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer for Houston Healthcare. “This honor is a tribute to the hard work and commitment of our staff to make quality care even better for our community.”

The Partnership for Health and Accountability, formed in January 2000 and sponsored by the Georgia Hospital Association, is a unique statewide collaborative that brings together health care providers with community agencies and individuals to achieve healthy communities. PHA includes representation from groups like hospitals, physicians, state health officials, legislators and businesses.

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