DENVER, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthONE hospitals earned the highest quality rankings among Denver Metro hospitals for a majority of procedures evaluated in the first-ever report card by the state's largest health insurance company.
The health plan, which also owns PacifiCare, earlier this month released a report card by regions and specialties, and based its measurements on: patient volume; complication and mortality rates; failure to rescue or death from complications; ICU physician staffing and computer-assisted order entry.
Within five metro Denver regions, UnitedHealthcare rated HealthONE hospitals as having the highest quality in well over half of more than the 100 procedures evaluated, compared to other hospitals in the same areas.
"The most important thing in our hospitals is the quality of care we provide, and we're proud that independent evaluations confirm that patients who come to HealthONE hospitals receive top-notch treatment and service," says Donna Kusuda, RN, HealthONE vice president for quality and patient safety.
Some examples of areas rated as the highest quality on the UnitedHealthcare Report Card are: (Each hospital is rated only against other hospitals in the same area; metro Denver was divided by 5 areas)
* All pediatric cardiac procedures, Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical
Center (specialty hospitals)
* Stroke treatment, total hip replacement, urinary tract infections,
gall bladder surgeries, Swedish Medical Center (south Denver)
* Pneumonia treatment, North Suburban Medical Center in Thornton
(north Denver)
* All adult cardiac procedures, The Medical Center of Aurora
(east Denver)
* All adult cardiac procedures, Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center
(central Denver)
* Total hip replacement, total knee replacements, both Rose Medical
Center and Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center (central Denver)
* Gall bladder surgery, pneumonia, Rose Medical Center (central Denver)
"This is what our quality programs do on a daily basis -- we measure, evaluate and continually improve care," Kusuda says. "We're never satisfied because we always strive to provide our patients the highest caliber of medical care available. That's why public report cards are important -- we want our care to be transparent and accountable to our community."
Kusuda is participating in a coalition of hospitals, employers, consumers, insurance plans, physicians and state and federal officials in producing a statewide Hospital Quality Report Card. The consumer tool was proposed by the Colorado Health and Hospital Association in a bill this year, which the Governor signed into law earlier this month.
"While there is a lot of information being published now about medical care from all sorts of groups and agencies, much of it is hard to understand," Kusuda adds. "With the Colorado Hospital Report Card, we will give Colorado consumers and patients useful and well-explained information so they can make more informed healthcare choices."
HealthONE is the largest healthcare system in the metro Denver area with 8,700 employees and 3,000 affiliated physicians. Recently named Colorado's "Best Company for Working Families -- large business category," the health system was created in 1995 as a 50/50 joint venture between various affiliates of HCA and the Colorado Health Foundation (formerly HealthONE Alliance), a Colorado nonprofit organization.
HealthONE includes: The Medical Center of Aurora and Centennial Medical Plaza; North Suburban Medical Center; Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center; Rose Medical Center; Sky Ridge Medical Center; Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital; Swedish Medical Center and Swedish Southwest ER; 11 ambulatory surgical centers; more than 30 occupational medicine/rehabilitation, Broncos Sports Medicine, specialty, and outpatient diagnostic imaging clinics; and AIRLIFE, which provides critical care air and ground transportation for a eight-state region.
