Solucient 100 Top Hospitals

100 Top Hospitals® more likely to address needs of terminally ill in local communities, new Solucient findings show

EVANSTON, IL – May 24, 2004 – The nation’s top performing hospitals are more likely to address the needs of the terminally ill through hospice services than other acute care U.S. hospitals, according to new findings by Solucient.

The findings are part of the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success, 11th Edition study which appears today in the May 24, 2004 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.

The study finds that if all acute care hospitals performed at the same level as the nation's top hospitals, 95,000 more Medicare patients could survive and an additional 77,000 patient stays could be complication-free each year - at an estimated annual savings of $8.8 billion.

In fact, if these same standards applied to all hospital inpatients, the impact would be even greater, the study adds.

Based on an analysis of U.S. acute care hospitals in 2002, the study identified top performing hospitals for setting performance benchmarks across four critical areas: quality of care, operational efficiency, financial performance and adaptation to the environment.

"The management teams at the 100 Top Hospitals have led their facilities to the highest performance levels in the nation by adopting new approaches that facilitate optimum care for patients, based on their real needs," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president of Solucient's Center for Healthcare Improvement which is responsible for the 100 Top Hospitals program. "The greater use of hospice services at these organizations is a reflection of this commitment."

"As the nation's population ages, end-of-life care will affect greater numbers of people and consume a growing amount of resources. In fact, recent surveys show an increasing awareness of end-of-life care issues among both providers and consumers of health care," said David Foster, PhD, vice president of clinical informatics at Solucient. "It is reassuring then that the 100 Top Hospitals are demonstrating results indicating an awareness of the importance of hospice care for their patients."

Among the key findings:

Adjusted for hospice availability, winning or “benchmark” hospitals were 17 percent more likely to discharge terminally ill patients to hospice services than non-winning or “peer” hospitals.
Benchmark hospitals had a nearly 18 percent lower mortality rate than peer hospitals, while patients at 100 Top Hospitals had 13 percent fewer complications.
Patients at winning hospitals return to everyday life faster than those at non-winning hospitals. These patients were released nearly half a day sooner, on average, than patients at peer hospitals.
Expenses per discharge at benchmark hospitals were 16 percent lower than peer hospitals ($4,147 benchmark vs. $4,950 peer).
Winning hospitals pay more to attract quality staff. Salary and benefits per full-time employee were nearly 3 percent higher than peer hospitals.
Benchmark hospitals treat more – and sicker – patients than non-winning hospitals. The median Medicare patient case mix index at winning hospitals was 22 percent higher than at peer hospitals. Benchmark hospitals also had 24 percent more admissions per bed.
Winning hospitals use a higher percentage of special care days for their patients – 14 percent vs. 11 percent for peer hospitals.
The cash flow to total debt ratio at benchmark hospitals was nearly 119% higher than peer hospitals.

The 11th edition of the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success study analyzed acute care hospitals nationwide using detailed empirical performance data from 2002, including publicly available MedPAR data and Medicare cost reports. Facilities recognized on the list are represented across five hospital classes:

Major Teaching - 15 winners
Teaching - 25 winners
Large Community, 250+ Beds - 21 winners (due to tie)
Medium Community, 100 to 249 Beds - 20 winners
Small Community, 25 to 99 Beds - 25 to 99 Beds - 20 winners

The study scored facilities according to key measures: risk-adjusted mortality and risk adjusted complications, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, growth in percent of community served, cash flow to total debt ratio, tangible assets per adjusted discharge, and coding specificity.

To view the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success list, log on to http://www.100tophospitals.com.

Media Notes:

- More information on this study and other 100 Top Hospitals research is available at www.100tophospitals.com. An executive summary of the 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success study is available to the media by emailing gsexton@solucient.com or logging on to www.100tophospitals.com.

- To schedule an interview with Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president of Solucient’s Center for Healthcare Improvement and the 100 Top Hospitals program, contact Ginny Sexton at (847) 424-4358; gsexton@solucient.com.