Mon General Recognized As National Leader for Patient Experience and Safety

            Mon General Hospital is the only hospital in the region to receive both the Healthgrades 2014 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ and the Healthgrades 2014 Patient Safety Excellence Award™.

            "Only 2% of all the hospitals in America receive both awards," said Mon Health System President and CEO Darryl Duncan. "That's a short list of only 90 hospitals. We're the only hospital in West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania or Maryland so honored. This amazing achievement is a tribute to each and every one of our employees - the skilled, dedicated and compassionate caregivers and staff who provide that personal touch so unique to Mon General."

            Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals, ranks all hospitals, large and small, on the basis of patient data supplied to the federal governement.                                                   

            This is the third time in four years that the hospital has won the Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™. The patient experience award recognizes Mon General for providing outstanding performance in the delivery of positive experiences for patients during their hospital stay. This is the seventh time in nine years that the hospital has received the Patient Safety Excellence award.

            For the patient experience award, Healthgrades evaluated 3,582 hospitals that submitted patient surveys to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), covering admissions from March 2012-April 2013. To be eligible for the Healthgrades 2014 Outstanding Patient Experience Award, hospitals had to meet additional clinical quality requirements to be considered for this distinction. This ensures recipient hospitals are delivering strong outcomes in addition to an excellent patient experience during the hospitalization, according to Healthgrades.

            Healthgrades evaluated Mon General’s performance as assessed by the hospital’s patients across 27 different questions and 10 measures asked on the patient surveys. Questions ranged from cleanliness and noise levels in patient rooms to factors such as pain management and responsiveness to patients’ needs. The measures include whether a patient would recommend the hospital to friends and family, how well communication was with doctors and nurses, was medication explained and discharge information.

            “As consumers are becoming more active participants in their healthcare, measured performance surrounding the patient experience at a hospital is an increasingly important consideration for patients in choosing where to receive their care,” said Evan Marks, Executive Vice President of Informatics and Strategy at Healthgrades. “Consumers can rest assured that those hospitals that have achieved the Healthgrades 2014 Patient Exerience Award™ demonstrate a commitment to exceptional focus on the needs of the patient during their stay at the hospital.”

            All hospitals that submit a sufficient number of HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) patient surveys and meet a minimum quality benchmark are eligible for the award. The top 15% of eligible hospitals are awarded the Outstanding Patient Experience Award, with those in the top 10% and top 5% singled out. Nationwide, 447 hospitals received the award.

            When comparied to hospitals performing in the bottom 5% for patient safety, patients treated in Healthgrades 2014 Patient Safety Excelence Award recipient hospitals were 73% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores, 72% less likely to experience a hip fracture following surgery and 67% less likey to experience catheter-related blood stream infections acquired at the hosptial.     

            For more information about Healthgrades, to download a full copy of the report or to get information about hospital and physician quality, visit www.Healthgrades.com.