December 4 –Quorum Health Resources (QHR) client hospital Penobscot Valley Hospital (PVH) in Lincoln, ME, was recently named to the 2012 Harvard Pilgrim Hospital Honor Roll for ranking among the top 25 percent throughout the New England region. Hospitals were measured on a set of composite quality metrics for clinical quality, patient experience and patient safety measures.
Harvard Pilgrim's Hospital Honor Roll recognizes those adult, acute care hospitals whose performance was among the top 25% of those measured nationally on clinical quality, patient experience and patient safety as reported by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Hospital Compare and by the Leapfrog Group.

To be named on the 2012 Honor Roll, a hospital had to meet strict guidelines on many different aspects of care. Harvard Pilgrim bases its scoring on four processes of care for patients with heart attacks, pneumonia, selected surgeries and healthcare associated infections. They also review patient experience survey results, electronic systems and patient safety practices.

“Recognition on the 2012 Harvard Pilgrim Honor Roll acknowledges the strengths and efforts our staff and physicians have made to provide quality care so close to home,” states Lisa French, Director of Quality Improvement at Penobscot Valley Hospital.

Penobscot Valley Hospital participates in many patient care and safety reporting initiatives by the Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the State of Maine’s Maine Health Management Coalition, and national safety groups such as Leapfrog. All of these entities provide information on their respective websites for reporting hospital information to the public.

One public resource includes the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) Survey results available at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov. The HCAHPS Survey is a national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients' perspectives on hospital care. Adult patients are randomly chosen to complete this survey after discharge from PVH and other hospitals across the country. Patient responses to these surveys are extremely important and help hospitals continuously improve upon patient care. If you are lucky enough to receive an HCAHPS Survey following an inpatient stay, please take a few minutes to complete this survey and know that your responses are reviewed and valued by hospital officials.

At PVH, HCAHPS scores are assessed at every department meeting. Frontline teams work together to implement patient suggestions and new ideas derived from the surveys. An example of this would be a new Teachback program implemented earlier this year in the nursing department.

“Our nursing staff at PVH have been working hard on the Teachback program to ensure our patients understand the care they are receiving,” states Karen Mueller, RN, Chief Nursing Officer at Penobscot Valley Hospital. “The hard work our nurses have put into this project is proving successful. In August, PVH ranked in the 95th percentile in communication with nurses and the 98th percentile in responsiveness of staff when compared to other hospitals nationally!”

“We are truly honored to be named among Harvard Pilgrim’s leading quality hospitals,” said David A. Shannon, CEO of Penobscot Valley Hospital. “Providing exceptional healthcare to our patients is our priority, and we are proud to be recognized for exceeding the national average in hospital quality.”

The 2012 Harvard Pilgrim Hospital Honor Roll is based on CMS Hospital Compare and Leapfrog data. Harvard Pilgrim's Hospital Quality Report identifies hospitals among the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care's network which includes over 150 hospitals endorsed by the National Quality Forum.

“We are thrilled to see our client Penobscot Valley be named to Harvard’s Hospital Honor Roll for quality,” said QHR President and CEO James L. Horrar. “One of our goals at Quorum is to provide hospitals with resources to achieve quality, and PVH’s award demonstrates the success of our clients to achieve high quality outcomes.”