TAMC named a ‘top performing’ hospital
on Key Quality Measures
PRESQUE ISLE — The independent, non-profit organization that accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States has named The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle as one of the “Top Performers on Key Quality Measures” nationwide.
In the recently released annual Joint Commission report on quality and safety, TAMC is named among the top 18 percent of accredited hospitals that report core measure performance data. The health care organizations on the list are recognized by the Joint Commission for attaining excellence in accountability measure performance during calendar year 2011
The 2012 report includes 620 hospitals designated as top performers on key quality measures that are leading the way nationally. TAMC is one of only four hospitals in Maine to earn the designation, and the only health care organization north of Pittsfield named to the Joint Commission list.
“We take great pride in this recognition of how seriously the TAMC team works each and every day to ensure we not only meet — but exceed — patient expectations in delivering quality care. We have kept a relentless focus on meeting the accountability measures and our efforts to improve are ongoing,” said Jay Reynolds, MD, who serves as TAMC’s chief operating officer and chief medical officer. “This recognition is a direct result of our efforts to work in a highly collaborative and seamless fashion to ensure we provide patients the right care, at the right time, at the right place. Our physicians work closely with other professionals to ensure our patients receive the best possible care. This national recognition is further evidence that this model is working. It also comes at a perfect time as we celebrate our centennial and 100 years of providing excellent care to the northern Maine community.”
The annual report also summarizes the performance of more than 3,300 Joint Commission accredited hospitals on 45 accountability measures of evidence-based care processes closely linked to positive patient outcomes. This is the fifth year the Joint Commission published the annual report on quality and safety.
“As a hospital and medical staff, we have made it our goal to provide the highest quality of care to the TAMC community and pride ourselves on our record of safety. We feel that our patients deserve the best care possible and should expect nothing less,” said Richard Debowsky, MD, TAMC medical staff president.
In addition to its staff, TAMC engages community members who serve on its board of trustees in efforts to continuously improve quality measures. Betty Kent-Conant of Fort Fairfield is the chair of the committee and a well respected retired nurse and nurse educator in the region.
“Management and staff at TAMC have been well aware of issues relating to quality and have worked diligently for many years to ensure patients receive top quality care. TAMC’s inclusion on the top performer list not only indicates quality care, but demonstrates the outstanding efforts to combine the compassion of our skilled providers with the latest technology to deliver the best results possible,” said Kent-Conant.
TAMC was noted for excellence in three specific areas — heart attack, pneumonia and surgical care. Making the Top Performers list is no easy feat.
Each recognized hospital met two 95 percent performance thresholds. First, each hospital achieved performance of 95 percent or above on a single, composite score that includes all the accountability measures for which it reports data to the Joint Commission, including measures that had fewer than 30 eligible cases or patients. Second, each hospital met or exceeded a 95 percent performance target for every accountability measure for which it reports data, excluding any measures with fewer than 30 eligible cases or patients.
“As hospitals, like TAMC, work diligently to improve quality and safety, I am energized by their ability to respond affirmatively to challenges. When we raise the bar and provide the proper guidance and tools, hospitals have answered with excellent results. Their capacity for continual improvement points toward a future in which quality and safety defects are dramatically reduced and high reliability is expected and achieved,” said Mark R. Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MPH, president of the Joint Commission. “Day-to-day progress will slowly but surely transform today’s health care system into one that achieves unprecedented performance outcomes for the benefit of the patients we serve.”
The three other Maine hospitals making the Top Performers list include Maine Medical Center in Portland, Henrietta D. Goodall Hospital in Sanford, and Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield. TAMC and Sebasticook Valley are both member organizations of EMHS.
