Baystate, Berkshire Medical Centers Named Among 100 Top Hospitals

SPRINGFIELD, PITTSFIELD — Baystate Medical Center and Berkshire Medical Center were both recently recognized among the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics, in its annual search to identify hospitals that provide the highest level of value to their communities.

 “Creating healthy communities is core to our mission at Baystate Medical Center, and we are delighted to be among the nation’s top hospitals in terms of the value we bring to our patients and the community while providing high quality, cost-effective, innovative care,” said Dr. Evan Benjamin, senior vice president and chief quality officer at Baystate Health.

This is the seventh time Baystate Medical Center has been recognized with this honor by Truven Health Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters), a leading national provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of healthcare.

“Our continued recognition over the years as one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals places us in an elite league of medical centers around the country and acknowledges our commitment to evidence-based, quality care, patient safety, and satisfaction. In order to continue to provide the highest quality of care to our patients, we continuously measure and improve our care including ways to increase survival rates, patient safety, and patient satisfaction combined with the patient experience,” he added.

David Phelps, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems, noted that BHS, led by its board of trustees, “established a goal several years ago of attaining Top 100 Hospital status, and I am proud of our entire staff, including our dedicated physicians, clinicians, and support staff, for their consistent commitment to excellence. Berkshire Medical Center consistently strives to improve our quality, safety, and overall patient experience so that our community can always rely on receiving the best care anywhere.”

Added Diane Kelly, chief operating officer at Berkshire Medical Center, “this recognition has been a goal for our organization for over a decade, and attaining it means that we are fulfilling our obligation to the community to provide the highest quality of care. I am proud of the teamwork across every level of the hospital that has led us to this honor.”

The Truven Health 100 Top Hospitals study evaluates performance in 10 areas: mortality, inpatient complications, patient safety, average patient stay, expenses, profitability, patient satisfaction, adherence to clinical standards of care, post-discharge mortality, and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, and pneumonia. The study has been conducted annually since 1993.

“This year’s 100 Top Hospitals represent the highest national standards in hospital care and management today. They set the benchmarks for peers around the country to follow, consistently delivering outstanding quality of care, satisfaction, and community value at a reasonable cost,” said Jean Chenoweth, Truven’s senior vice president for Performance Improvement. “The majority of the 2014 award winners have produced year-to-year performance improvement as well. This speaks to the consistent focus on excellence by the entire organization and the men and women who serve patients.”

To conduct the 100 Top Hospitals study, Truven Health researchers evaluated 2,803 short-term, acute-care, non-federal hospitals. They used public information, including Medicare  cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient-satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.

The winning hospitals were announced in the March 3 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine. More information on this study and other 100 Top Hospitals research is available at 100tophospitals.com.