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Colquitt Regional Medical Center ranks in the top 15 percent of hospitals nationwide in overall patient satisfaction, according to HealthGrades, Inc., one of the nation’s leading healthcare rating organizations. The designation earned CRMC one of HealthGrades’ 2009 Outstanding Patient Experience Awards.
In selecting the Outstanding Patient Experience Award winners, HealthGrades analyzed patient satisfaction data for 2,592 hospitals in the country using data obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). HealthGrades then applied a scoring methodology to compare hospitals nationally to create an overall patient satisfaction score for each hospital. Hospitals that ranked in the top 15% in the country were presented the Outstanding Patient Experience Awards for 2009.
“Recent research shows that patients’ choice of hospital is influenced by service and amenities, as well as clinical quality,” said HealthGrades Executive Vice President Sarah Loughran. “The HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award aggregates
recommendations from patients and identifies those hospitals that provide a superior patient experience. It truly is a distinction generated by patients for patients. The more information consumers have about the health care choices available to them, the more confident they can be in selecting the best medical care for themselves and their loved ones.”
Brooks Sheldon, chairman of the Colquitt County Hospital Authority, said the rating comes as a result of the hospital’s “culture of caring.”
“The HealthGrades Award is a fine tribute to our hospital staff and to our medical staff of physicians at CRMC,” Sheldon said. “Together these staffs have established a culture of caring reflected in their relationship with our patients. This culture is easy to detect on a daily basis, and it is rewarding to have the CMS data bear it out.”The award is the first of its kind and is the first new award HealthGrades has issued since 2006 when the organization rolled out its HealthGrades America’s 50 Best Hospital Awards. To be considered for HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award, a hospital must have:
Board member Anne Carlton, who heads the hospital’s Quality Assurance Committee, said the honor underscores the fact that Colquitt Regional takes seriously its responsibility to its patients.
“To be ranked in the top 15% nationwide by a leading healthcare organization is a reason to be proud,” Mrs. Carlton said. “As a patient in a hospital one can feel vulnerable. We must find assurance and trust that we are receiving caring and best care practices. Assurance brings comfort. Patient satisfaction says a great deal about our local hospital. It says we take our responsibility seriously.”
• More than 100 survey responses
• More than 50 acute care beds
• A minimum HealthGrades clinical outcomes quality rating
Eligible hospitals are then ranked, and the top 15 percent receive the HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award.
HealthGrades has rated the quality of care at all of the nation’s nonfederal hospitals for the last ten years based on objective mortality and complication rates, or clinical patient outcomes. Hospital ratings can be found at www.HealthGrades.com.