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HealthGrades, a national health-care ratings organizations, awarded Gundersen Lutheran the 2008 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence based on its clinical quality performance.
“This award is a great compliment. It does not measure volume or popularity; it measures how well we care for our patients,” Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, Gundersen Lutheran chief executive officer, said in a press release.
Jean Krause, Gundersen Lutheran’s chief quality officer, said patients admitted to a hospital receiving this award are, on average, 27 percent less likely to face mortality and 5 percent less likely to suffer from a major complication.
Gundersen Lutheran also received specialty excellence awards for bariatric surgery, critical care, gastrointestinal care, gastrointestinal surgery, general surgery, joint replacement and orthopedic care. The medical center also received five-star or best ratings in treating several medical conditions.
“I think we’ve shown some tremendous improvements in quality in the last five years, and we’re improving faster than some organizations,” Krause said. “The focus on quality has been a part of our strategic planning.”
Franciscan Skemp received five-star ratings in some categories related to treating heart attack and gastrointestinal bleed and using coronary interventional procedures such as angioplasty/stents. Vernon Memorial Hospital in Viroqua, Wis., was awarded five-star ratings in total knee replacement, and Tomah Memorial Hospital received top ratings in maternity care.
Kim Fortner, consultant with HealthGrades, said the independent study looked at mortality and complication rates among Medicare patients from 2004-06. Fortner said the study comes from data on Medicare patients reported by hospitals to the federal government.
Gundersen Lutheran had poor ratings in maternity care based on state data and back-neck surgery except for spinal fusion. Franciscan Skemp received poor ratings in several areas including total hip replacement, total knee replacement, hip fracture repair, carotid surgery and pneumonia.
Black River Falls Memorial Hospital had poor ratings for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, maternity care and stroke treatment. Tomah Memorial and Vernon Memorial received poor ratings in heart failure. Franciscan Skemp in Sparta had a poor ranking for maternity care.
P. Stephen Shultz, Franciscan Skemp vice president and medical director, said he doesn’t know much about methodology of the HeathGrades study.
“There is a lot of data out there where we do very well in several areas,” Shultz said. “We don’t know how HealthGrades does its ratings. It doesn’t share the data with us unless we pay for it.”
Fortner said all hospitals are in the HealthGrades report, and people can look at all sorts of information on its Web site at www.healthgrades.com for free. Some reports are available for a fee.
“The data is valid, and we’ve been paying attention to how we have stacked up for 10 years in HealthGrades,” Krause said.
She said Gundersen Lutheran formed a partnership with HealthGrades last year to make further improvements in quality of care.
“All this data is about improving and providing better health care,” Krause said.
HEALTHGRADES 5-STAR RATINGS
Gundersen Lutheran
Franciscan Skemp-La Crosse
Vernon Memorial Hospital, Viroqua, Wis.
Tomah Memorial Hospital
Terry Rindfleisch can be reached at trindfleisch@lacrossetribune.com, or (608) 791-8227.
