GREAT NECK, NY – Three North Shore-LIJ Health System hospitals – Plainview Hospital, Southside Hospital in Bay Shore and North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) in Manhasset – today were named among the nation’s top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission , the leading accreditor of healthcare organization in the United States. The three North Shore-LIJ hospitals were among only eight hospitals in New York State named in The Joint Commission’s first-ever recognition program, which is based on data reported about evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and children’s asthma. The Joint Commission released the performance data today in its annual report on quality and safety, “Improving America’s Hospitals.”

Plainview , Southside and NSUH are among only 405 US hospitals and critical access hospitals to meet or exceed the target rates of performance for calendar year 2010, which represents approximately the top 14 percent of Joint Commission accredited hospitals (of those that report performance data). The three North Shore-LIJ hospitals were recognized for their performance related to 22 accountability measures for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. (The Joint Commission combined data for the fourth quarter of 2010 from NSUH with Syosset Hospital’s quality measures.)

For example, in caring for heart attack patients, the accountability measures include giving aspirin at arrival. In surgical care, staff must ensure that a patient receives a prophylactic antibiotic one hour before surgery starts and discontinue the prophylactic antibiotic within 24 hours of the procedure. Clinicians treating patients with heart failure or pneumonia also follow very specific protocols that measure accountability in the care.

To be recognized by the Joint Commission, a top performing hospital must meet two criteria: They must achieve performance of 95 percent or above on a single composite score for the key quality measures; and they must meet or exceed 95 percent performance for each single accountability measure in the four clinical areas. Plainview, Southside and NSUH earned distinction as top performers in all four clinical areas.

“Today, the public expects transparency in the reporting of performance at the hospitals where they receive care, and The Joint Commission is shining a light on the top performing hospitals at North Shore-LIJ that have achieved excellence on a number of vital measures of quality of care,” said Mark R. Chassin, MD, president of The Joint Commission.

“We understand that safe, effective care is what matters most to patients,” said Michael Dowling , president and chief executive officer of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. “That’s why the health system has made a commitment to accreditation and positive patient outcomes through evidence-based care processes. I applaud the efforts of the clinical teams at North Shore, Plainview and Southside for being recognized nationally for their performance and delivering the highest level of patient care.”

For more information about The Joint Commission’s “Improving America’s Hospital’s” annual report, visit: http://www.jointcommission.org/annualreport.aspx
or its website at: http://www.qualitycheck.org.

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