Greensburg, IN — Decatur County Memorial Hospital has received the highest overall hospital rating given by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), placing them among the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide. Hospitals earning this top rating show an “overall rating” of five-stars on CMS’ Hospital Compare tool which provides consumers information about the quality of care for over 4,500 Medicare-certified hospitals. Of the hospitals rated by CMS, only 455 achieved a five-star rating. In addition, only 13 of Indiana’s 190 hospitals received the five-star rating, placing DCMH in the top 7% in the state.
“We are developing a culture of continuous quality improvement by aligning the organizational focus to improve the quality of the patient experience and clinical outcomes,” said Rex McKinney, DCMH president and CEO. “Making decisions centered around what is best for our patients, daily huddles, tracking progress, and engaging our team members are some of the strategies used to obtain the CMS 5 Star rating of the hospital.”
The overall hospital rating is based on data publicly reported on CMS’ Hospital Compare tool (medicare.gov/hospitalcompare). The rating shows how well each hospital performed on average
compared to other hospitals in the U.S. in treating common conditions such as sepsis or pneumonia. It reflects performance on up to 48 measures across five aspects of quality, including patient experience, safety of care and timely and effective care.
Hospitals are put into one of three peer groups depending on how many measures they submit. Larger hospitals, for example, generally submit the most measures and smaller hospitals submit the fewest. DCMH submitted outcomes for all five measure groups placing them in a peer group that mostly consists of large hospital systems and teaching hospitals, making the recognition even more significant.
Critical Access Hospitals do not have to participate with the Star Rating system due to their smaller patient volume. “That is not an option for DCMH. We set our goals to be among the nation’s best,” said McKinney. “When it comes to quality of care, hospital size does not matter. Attaining this rating shows the dedication and excellence of our staff.” Participating hospitals reported data to CMS, the federal agency that runs the Medicare program through the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program. Those hospitals were given an overall rating ranging from one to five stars, with five as the highest, according to the report.
