Two separate studies give high marks to Aurora Memorial
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in chief
Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington is among the top performing hospitals nationwide for quality care as determined recently by two separate studies.
The hospital was recognized in 2011 as a Top Performer of Key Quality Measures by the Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care providers in America.
Memorial Hospital was also a top performer in the voluntary six-year Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (HQID) project offered through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Premier, an alliance of health care providers. That study concluded last November.
“The ability of our hospital to come in No. 1 in the nation is phenomenal,” said Vicki Lewis, president of the hospital, in reference to the 10 awards Burlington Memorial garnered in the final year of the HQID project. “We’re sharing this data (with the rating agencies) because we believe in ourselves.”
Memorial Hospital was one of 216 participating hospitals and only one of five to receive all the awards it was eligible to obtain in the final year of the HQID project.
The awards the local hospital achieved were for treatment of heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, hip and knee replacement, and surgical care.
Memorial Hospital was not eligible for an award in a sixth category – coronary artery bypass graft – because that is not a service the hospital provides.
Only two hospitals – one in Pennsylvania and one in Virginia – collected awards in all six categories.
Hospitals across the country, including 10 in Wisconsin, voluntarily participated in the study and, on average, improved quality of care and patient outcomes by 18.6 percent over the six years of the project.
“It was real-time data sent electronically, so there’s no fudge factor,” said Lewis, who took over as administrator of Memorial Hospital of Burlington and Aurora Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn in June 2011.
Performance confirmed
Lewis said the designation that came as a result of the HQID project was a welcome confirmation of the “Top Performer” status bestowed on the hospital by the Joint Commission in 2011.
Based on data from 2010, the Joint Commission’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures was launched as a means to recognize accredited hospitals for achieving and sustaining high quality in measurable performance.
To qualify for the designation, hospitals must achieve a composite score of 95 percent or better for all accountability measures and also must meet or exceed 95 percent performance in individual categories for which data is reported.
Memorial Hospital met or exceeded that threshold in three areas: heart attack, pneumonia; and surgical care.
Hospitals had to meet the standard in at least two measurable areas to qualify for the designation.
Aurora Memorial also recently received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. The award – which recognizes cancer programs that strive to provide high-quality care – went to 106 facilities in the U.S., including Lakeland Medical Center.
Striving for quality
Greg Hoffman, Aurora‘s manager for regional business development and marketing, said the separate designations – when taken as a whole – project the hospital as one of the best at serving its community.
“We’re not (touting) it because we’re pretending to be something we’re not,” he said, noting that the hospital doesn’t purport to be a research facility or trauma center. “We know what we are and we’re very proud of it.”
Lewis said the hospital provides many of the services expected of a community facility, but attempts to take that to a new level.
“Lots of hospitals our size don’t provide the breadth and depth of service we do,” she said.
Hoffman agreed: “We’re somewhat of a best-kept secret. Even when people from our own (Aurora) system visit, they’re amazed at what we do.”
He said Aurora Memorial strives to provide strong primary care and also brings in specialists who give the community an added level of service.
“The ability to have those people in Burlington, Wisconsin, is unique,” he said.
Lewis said the level of care at Aurora Memorial is a testament to the hospital’s physicians and staff.
“One of the things I’ve been blown away by is the talent of the medical staff,” she said.
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