Winning systems in 2017 are lauded for shorter emergency department wait times and lengths of stay, higher survival rates, and fewer complications.
Truven Health Analytics has named its 15 Top U.S. health systems for 2017 based on the clinical and administrative evaluations of nearly 3,000 hospitals in 337 health systems across the nation.
"The study recognizes these 15 health systems that have proven it is possible to drive down expense while improving the quality of care," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and the 100 Top Hospitals program at Truven in a media statement this week.
"More importantly, the leaders of these health systems are demonstrating the power of aligning best practices across multiple hospitals to achieve greater levels of efficiency while delivering higher overall standards of care."
The study divides the top health systems into three comparison groups based on total operating expenses. The 2017 winners are:
Large Health Systems (operating expense above $1.75 billion)
Mayo Foundation – Rochester, MN
Mercy – Chesterfield, MO
Scripps Health – San Diego, CA
Spectrum Health – Grand Rapids, MI
St. Luke's Health System – Boise, ID
Medium Health Systems (operating expense $750 million – $1.75 billion)
HealthPartners – Bloomington, MN
Kettering Health Network – Dayton, OH
Mercy Health Southwest Ohio Region – Cincinnati, OH
Mission Health – Asheville, NC
Parkview Health – Fort Wayne, IN
Small Health Systems (operating expense below $750 million)
Asante – Medford, OR
Lakeland Health – St. Joseph, MI
Lovelace Health System – Albuquerque, NM
Maury Regional Healthcare – Columbia, TN
Roper St. Francis Healthcare – Charleston, SC
The study evaluated 337 health systems and 2,924 member hospitals to identify the health systems with the highest overall achievement on a balanced scorecard and focuses on five performance domains: inpatient outcomes, process of care, extended outcomes, efficiency, and patient experience.
The study found that top-ranked hospitals had:
- Shorter wait times in emergency departments: Patients at the 15 Top Health System winners had 17.5% shorter wait times in the emergency department.
- Higher survival rates: The 15 Top Health System winners had 13.4% fewer in-hospital deaths.
- Fewer complications: Patients treated at winning systems had 8.5% fewer complications.
- Shorter length of stay: The average patient length of stay at winning health systems was 10.2% shorter.
Ann Arbor, MI-based Truven is part of IBM Watson Health. Truven has compiled its 100 Top Hospitals since 1993.
John Commins is the news editor for HealthLeaders.