Berkshire Medical Center, Fairview Hospital Named Top Performers

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Medical Center and Fairview Hospital have been recognized as 2014 Top Performers on Key Quality Measures by the Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in the U.S. BMC and Fairview were recognized as part of the Joint Commission’s 2015 annual report, “America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety,” which uses data from 2014.

BMC was cited for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability-measure performance for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, venous thromboembolism, and stroke care, and Fairview was recognized for surgical care.

BMC and Fairview are among 1,043 hospitals in the U.S. to achieve the 2014 Top Performer distinction. This is the fourth straight year BMC and Fairview have been recognized as Joint Commission Top Performers, which places them among only 221 hospitals to have achieved that record of performance and recognition.

“Berkshire Health Systems has a continual commitment to achieving the highest-quality in the delivery of care to our community,” said David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. “Over the past several years, BMC and Fairview have implemented evidence-based clinical processes that have been shown to improve care, and the positive outcomes our patients are experiencing are the most important measure of the success of these initiatives. Our results are why independent national organizations, such as the Joint Commission and many others, recognize the level of care that BHS, our physicians, nurses, and staff provide in critical areas of care. Our community can be confident that the care they receive here, right at home, is the best available.”

The Top Performer program recognizes hospitals for improving performance on evidence-based interventions that increase the chances of healthy outcomes for patients with certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, children’s asthma, stroke, venous thromboembolism, and perinatal care, as well as for inpatient psychiatric services and immunizations.

This year’s Top Performer acute care hospitals achieved distinction by meeting performance criteria in at least six measure sets, an increase from the four required last year. To be a Top Performer, a hospital must achieve cumulative performance of 95{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} or above across all reported accountability measures; achieve performance of 95{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} or above on every reported accountability measure with at least 30 denominator cases; and have at least one core measure set with a composite rate of 95{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} or above and, within that measure set, achieve a performance rate of 95{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} or above on all applicable individual accountability measures.

“We understand what matters most to patients at BMC and Fairview is the quality and safety of the care they receive, and that is why we have made it a top priority to continually improve positive patient outcomes through evidence-based care processes,” said Diane Kelly, BMC chief operating officer, and Eugene Dellea, Fairview president.