Winchester Medical Center Only Virginia Hospital Named to Solucient's Top 100 List

 

The results of the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals®: National Benchmarks for Success study were released earlier this month, and Winchester Medical Center found its name on the list for the second straight year. In fact, the medical center was the only hospital in Virginia to make this year’s top 100.

 

2006 marks the 14^th year that Solucient has sought to recognize U.S. hospital that have achieved excellence in clinical outcomes, patient safety, financial performance, efficiency, and growth in patient volume. This is the third time WMC has been recognized with this honor. 

 

“This is a substantial recognition of the fine efforts of the Board of Directors, hospital staff and physicians, and one in which we should all take great pride in receiving,” notes Valley Health CEO Michael Halseth.  “This award is a testimony to the tremendous effort each of you puts forth every day to ensure that the people we are privileged to serve receive the very best care available,” he adds.

 

 According to Cynthia Rawlinson, VH Corporate Director of Performance Improvement, the typical 100 Top Hospitals award winner produces solid patient outcomes, has an effective patient safety program, and provides efficient care at a reasonable cost, compared with other hospitals like it across the country.  “Solucient publishes the list in an effort to help all hospitals throughout the country set goals and benchmarks for higher performance and improved services,” Cynthia offers. Solucient estimates that if all U.S. hospitals performed at the same level as the benchmark hospitals, more than 100,000 additional patients could survive each year, and an additional 114,000 could avoid complications, while expenses could decrease by as much as $10 billion a year.

 

As Cynthia points out, although there are no perfect hospitals, research has shown that teamwork across an organization produces a greater likelihood of better outcomes, adherence to national standards, and more reasonable costs.  “The 100 Top Hospitals award recognizes the contribution of each individual in the hospital who helps improve patient outcomes and safety, increases efficiency, reduces costs and helps grow services,” she says, adding that patients can feel comfortable that a 100 Top Hospital award winner is performing well against national standards.

 

Some measures in the study change, usually every year, based on new and higher standards of care.  To continue to make the list, hospitals must keep up with the new standards and develop new techniques to achieve better performance.

 

“It is exceedingly difficult to win this award even once and should be a point of enormous pride for both the hospital and its community,” Cynthia stresses. “This award really honors everyone at WMC and the VH departments that support them!”