Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle receives QUEST Award for High-value Healthcare

Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle has been recognized by a national healthcare alliance for reducing harm, mortality and costs, while improving the patient experience.

“Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle is truly leading the way as they deliver care that is more efficient and effective”

They are the only hospital to receive the QUEST^® Award for High-value Healthcare from Premier, a hospital-owned performance improvement alliance of 2,600 hospitals and 84,000-plus other care sites.

"Receiving this award is a tremendous honor for our entire team of employees, physicians, and governing board," said Bob Ellzey, FACHE, president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle. "It is validation of our daily commitment to provide our patients with the highest quality, safe and caring practices in a value-driven environment. At Texas Health, we say that we are 'Individuals Caring for Individuals, Together,' and we're proud to have earned this award together."

The QUEST Award was presented to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle on June 7 at Premier's annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in Nashville, Tenn. The hospital was honored for achieving top performance in all six of the following areas measured in Premier's national QUEST collaborative over the first three quarters of the 2011 calendar year by:

• Mortality: Eliminating 16 avoidable hospital deaths with a mortality rate of 1.14 percent.
• Cost of care: Safely lowering costs by an average of $440 less per patient.
• Evidence-based care: Improving the delivery of recommended evidence-based care measures by 5.09 percent to 97 percent. Evidence-based care measures include interventions such as administering aspirin upon arrival and discharge and smoking cessation for heart attack patients.
• Harm: Reducing harm by nearly 70 percent across 24 categories, including infections.
• Readmissions: Reducing readmissions by 10 percent.
• Patient experience: Increasing patient satisfaction scores by 2.2 percent.

"Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle is truly leading the way as they deliver care that is more efficient and effective," said Premier President and CEO Susan DeVore. "QUEST hospitals are charting the course to transforming healthcare's future by increasing quality and patient safety, all while eliminating unnecessary costs."

The hospital also received Premier's fifth annual Supply Chain Excellence Award for its superior purchasing strategies.

The following nine hospitals were also named finalists for achieving top performance in QUEST for any five of the six above areas:

• Alegent Health
  • Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital, Omaha, Neb.
  • Alegent Health Midlands Hospital, Papillion, Neb.
• Aurora Health Care Inc.
  • Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center, Sheboygan, Wis.
• Bon Secours Health System Inc.
  • St. Francis eastside, Greenville, S.C.
• Greenville Hospital System
  • Hillcrest Memorial Hospital, Simpsonville, S.C.
• Mountain States Health Alliance
  • Franklin Woods Community Hospital, Johnson City, Tenn.
• SSM Health Care
  • St. Mary's Hospital, Centralia, Ill.
  • St. Mary's Hospital, Madison, Wis.
• Texas Health Resources
  • Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman, Kaufman, Texas

QUEST members participating since 2011 (303 of today's 350 participants) were eligible for the award. QUEST hospitals agree to:

• Transparently share progress on a set of uniform measures on a regular basis;
• Share best practices and successful innovations with all members of the collaborative; and
• Take part in structured collaborative execution activities (such as 90-day improvement sprints).

Top performance thresholds were established at the top quartile of performance from a baseline period in all measures except cost of care, which was based on the median of the total inpatient cost per case mix adjusted discharge. Top performance methodology for each dimension varied depending on the unique measure calculation and methodology.

The Premier healthcare alliance and our nation's leading hospitals created the QUEST collaborative. QUEST hospitals monitor and measure performance to ensure delivery of high-quality, cost-effective care. In their first three years, 157 QUEST hospitals saved nearly 25,000 lives and $4.5 billion.

QUEST now comprises nearly 350 hospitals across 40 states who continue to increase adherence to evidence-based care delivery, improve the patient experience and avoid harm while reducing mortality, cost of care and readmissions.

Source Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle/Texas Health Resources