NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Southcoast Health today announced it has been recognized as a 2013 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the United States, for its performances in heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care. Southcoast Health is the only healthcare system on the South Coast, Cape Cod and Islands, and Plymouth to earn this recognition.

“Southcoast Health is a leader in patient quality and safety, and we are proud to be recognized by The Joint Commission for our collective commitment to continuous improvement and the highest standards of care,” said Keith Hovan, President & CEO of Southcoast Health. “This recognition is a testament to the hard-working Southcoast team members who day in and day out provide exceptional care and personalized service to our patients and their loved ones.”

Southcoast Health was recognized as part of The Joint Commission’s 2014 annual report “America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety,” for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performances. Southcoast Health is one of just 25 hospitals in Massachusetts to receive this distinction.

“Delivering the right treatment in the right way at the right time is a cornerstone of high-quality health care. I commend the efforts of Southcoast Health for their excellent performance on the use of evidence-based interventions,” said Mark R. Chassin, M.D., FACP, M.P.P., M.P.H., president and CEO, The Joint Commission.

The Top Performer program recognizes hospitals for improving performance on evidence-based interventions that increase the chances of healthy outcomes for patients with certain conditions. To be a 2013 Top Performer, hospitals had to meet three performance criteria based on 2013 accountability measure data, including:

• Achieving cumulative performance of 95 percent or above across all reported accountability measures;
• Achieving performance of 95 percent or above on each and every reported accountability measure where there were at least 30 denominator cases; and
• Having at least one core measure set that had a composite rate of 95 percent or above, and (within that measure set) all applicable individual accountability measures had a performance rate of 95 percent or above.

For more information about the Top Performer program, visit http://www.jointcommission.org/accreditation/top_performers.aspx.

Joint Commission