Recognizing that many people research hospitals before coming to them for specific care and services, we believe it is important to provide you with information about our hospital quality and patient safety measures. While this information can play a role in the decision making process, it should not be the only area considered when selecting a hospital.

Core measure performance is used to measure the quality of care provided by the hospital and its physicians for patients with a specific diagnosis. At Susquehanna Health we continuously monitor and track the care of our patients. The following links connect you to data that we measure on a quarterly basis. www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov or www.phcqa.org.

Susquehanna Health fully participates in the IHI, www.ihi.org (Institute for Healthcare Improvement) 5 Million Lives Campaign. This is a national initiative with a goal to dramatically improve the quality of healthcare. There are twelve components of this campaign. They include:

• Deploy Rapid Response Teams…at the first sign of patient decline
• Deliver Reliable, Evidence-Based Care for Acute Myocardial Infarction…to prevent deaths from heart attack
• Prevent Adverse Drug Events (ADEs)…by implementing medication reconciliation
• Prevent Central Line Infections…by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps
• Prevent Surgical Site Infections…by reliably delivering the correct perioperative antibiotics at the proper time
• Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia…by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps
• Prevent Harm from High-Alert Medications… starting with a focus on anticoagulants, sedatives, narcotics, and insulin
• Reduce Surgical Complications… by reliably implementing all of the changes in care recommended by SCIP, the Surgical Care Improvement Project
• Prevent Pressure Ulcers… by reliably using science-based guidelines for their prevention
• Reduce Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection…by reliably implementing scientifically proven infection control practices
• Deliver Reliable, Evidence-Based Care for Congestive Heart Failure… to avoid readmissions
• Get Boards on Board… by defining and spreading the best-known leveraged processes for hospital Boards of Directors, so that they can become far more effective in accelerating organizational progress toward safe care

In November 2003, The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association⁄American Stroke Association developed performance measures for Primary Stroke Centers, the first advanced-level certification program designed to recognize primary stroke centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke patient care. This advanced certification focuses on the healthcare team’s protocols to ensure that patients are treated and discharged appropriately. The Williamsport Hospital & Medical Center participates in this program by following a standardized set of 10 performance measures for every stroke patient. Our successful participation in the Get With The Guidelines Program was recognized in the July 2007 US News & World Report Best Hospital issue.

Beyond our participation in Get With The Guidelines, The Williamsport Hospital & Medical Center has attained the designation of a primary stroke center from the Joint Commission. This designation from a national accrediting body underscores Susquehanna Health’s efforts to follow national standards and guidelines that can significantly improve the outcomes for our stroke patients.