Truven's 100 Top Hospitals Improve Outcomes, Lower Costs

Hospitals on the list had lower 30-day mortality and readmissions rates, fewer complication, and higher survival rates when compared with peer group hospitals that did not make the list, Truven Health Analytics said.

For the first time in the 23-year history of the rankings, the 100 Top Hospitals from Truven Health Analytics show a notable trend toward reduced expense per patient among the majority of top-performing hospitals.

Truven said its 100 Top Hospitals had lower 30-day mortality and readmissions rates, fewer complication, and higher survival rates while maintaining 3% lower per in-patient costs when compared with peer group hospitals that did not make the list. The study also found a year-over-year decline in total inpatient expense per discharge among the 100 Top Hospitals in the major teaching, teaching and small community hospital categories.

"Many of the 2016 100 Top Hospitals award winners are breaking the mold for high performance. Hospitals in three out of the five hospital categories actually reduced overall expense year over year, while improving patient outcomes," Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president at Chicago-based Truven said in prepared remarks accompanying the rankings. "Some of these hospitals also show a small degradation of operating profit margin. Hopefully this is not an indicator of a developing trend."

When compared with their peers, the Truven 100 Top Hospitals reported:

• Better Survival Rates: As a group, 100 Top Hospitals had 23 percent fewer deaths than expected considering patient severity.
• Fewer Patient Complications: Patients at winning hospitals had 21 percent fewer complications than expected considering patient severity.
• Lower 30-Day Mortality and Readmission Rates: Mean 30-day mortality and readmission rates were lower at winning hospitals than non-winning hospitals across all comparison groups.
• Shorter Length of Stay: Winning hospitals had a median severity-adjusted length of stay that was a half-day shorter than peers.
• Higher Profit Overall Margins: Winning hospitals had a median operating profit margin that was nearly nine percentage points higher than non-winning hospitals.

If all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in 100 Top Hospitals, Truven said:

•  More than 104,000 additional lives could be saved.
• Nearly 48,400 additional patients could be complication free.
• $2 billion in inpatient costs could be saved.
• The average patient stay would decrease by half a day.

If the same standards were applied to all inpatient care, the impact would be even greater.

The Truven 100 Top Hospitals list evaluates clinical and operational performance in 11 areas: inpatient mortality; 30-day mortality rate; complications; core measures; 30-day risk-adjusted readmission rate; severity-adjusted average length of stay; mean emergency room throughput; inpatient expense per discharge; Medicare spend per beneficiary; adjusted operating profit margin; and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems score.

The study has been conducted annually since 1993. Truven evaluated 3,000 short-term, acute-care, non-federal hospitals using Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare website. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.

Here are the winning hospitals, by category.

Major Teaching Hospitals

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital – Park Ridge, IL; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center – Los Angeles, CA; Christiana Care Health System – Newark, DE; Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, WI; Houston Methodist Hospital – Houston, TX; NorthShore University HealthSystem – Evanston, IL; NYU Langone Medical Center – New York, NY; OhioHealth Doctors Hospital – Columbus, OH; Providence-Providence Park Hospital – Southfield, MI; Rush University Medical Center – Chicago, IL; St. Joseph Mercy Hospital – Ann Arbor, MI; St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center – Phoenix, AZ; St. Luke's University Hospital - Bethlehem – Bethlehem, PA; University of Colorado Hospital – Aurora, CO; University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics – Iowa City, IA.

Teaching Hospitals

Aspirus Wausau Hospital – Wausau, WI; Bethesda North Hospital – Cincinnati, OH; BSA Health System – Amarillo, TX; Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy – Charlotte, NC; Good Samaritan Hospital – Cincinnati, OH; Kendall Regional Medical Center – Miami, FL; Kettering Medical Center – Kettering, OH; LDS Hospital – Salt Lake City, UT; McKay-Dee Hospital – Ogden, UT; Mercy Health Saint Mary's – Grand Rapids, MI; Mercy Hospital St. Louis – St. Louis, MO; Mercy Medical Center – Cedar Rapids, IA. Mid-Michigan Medical Center-Midland – Midland, MI; Park Nicolett Methodist Hospital – St. Louis Park, MN; Parkview Regional Medical Center – Fort Wayne, IN; Poudre Valley Hospital – Fort Collins, CO; Riverside Medical Center – Kankakee, IL; Rose Medical Center – Denver, CO; Spectrum Health Medical Center – Grand Rapids, MI; St. Cloud Hospital – St. Cloud, MN; St. Luke's Boise Medical Center – Boise, ID; St. Mary's Hospital – Madison, WI; St. Vincent Healthcare – Billings, MT; The Christ Hospital Health Network – Cincinnati, OH; UnityPoint - Meriter Hospital – Madison, WI.

Large Community Hospitals

Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital – Downers Grove, IL; Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center – Medford, OR; Billings Clinic Hospital – Billings, MT; Centinela Hospital Medical Center – Inglewood, CA; Edward Hospital – Naperville, IL; El Camino Hospital – Mountain View, CA; EvergreenHealth Kirkland – Kirkland, WA; FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital – Pinehurst, NC; Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center – Daytona Beach, FL; Franciscan St. Francis Health - Indianapolis – Indianapolis, IN; Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center – Houston, TX; Mercy Hospital – Coon Rapids, MN; Mosaic Life Care – St. Joseph, MO; Mother Frances Hospital Tyler – Tyler, TX; Roper Hospital – Charleston, SC; Sarasota Memorial Hospital – Sarasota, FL; Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla – La Jolla, CA; St. David's Medical Center – Austin, TX; West Florida Hospital – Pensacola, FL; West Georgia Medical Center – LaGrange, GA.

Medium Community Hospitals

Alhambra Hospital Medical Center – Alhambra, CA; Aurora BayCare Medical Center – Green Bay, WI; Blanchard Valley Hospital – Findlay, OH; Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital – Charleston, SC; Chino Valley Medical Center – Chino, CA; Clermont Hospital – Batavia, OH; Dupont Hospital – Fort Wayne, IN; French Hospital Medical Center – San Luis Obispo, CA; Holland Hospital – Holland, MI; Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital – Sugar Land, TX; Lawrence Memorial Hospital – Lawrence, KS; Logan Regional Hospital – Logan, UT; Mercy Iowa City – Iowa City, IA; Ochsner Medical Center - Baton Rouge – Baton Rouge, LA. Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center – Williamsburg, VA; Sherman Oaks Hospital – Sherman Oaks, CA; Sycamore Medical Center – Miamisburg, OH; Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth – Fort Worth, TX; Timpanogos Regional Hospital – Orem, UT; West Valley Medical Center – Caldwell, ID.

Small Community Hospitals

Aurora Medical Center – Two Rivers, WI; Brigham City Community Hospital – Brigham City, UT; Fairview Northland Medical Center – Princeton, MN; Franklin Woods Community Hospital – Johnson City, TN; Hawkins County Memorial Hospital – Rogersville, TN; Hill Country Memorial Hospital – Fredericksburg, TX; HSHS St. Joseph's Hospital Breese – Breese, IL; Kansas Medical Center – Andover, KS; Lakeview Hospital – Bountiful, UT; Lakeview Medical Center – Rice Lake, WI; Mercy Defiance Hospital – Defiance, OH; Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers – Morris, IL; OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital – Dublin, OH; Parkview Huntington Hospital – Huntington, IN; Pomerene Hospital – Millersburg, OH; Renown South Meadows Medical Center – Reno, NV; Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital – Mount Pleasant, SC; St. Luke's Hospital - Quakertown – Quakertown, PA;