SOUTHERN COLORADO -- For most, a visit to the hospital is a black or white situation: whether going for a disease or heart attack, or celebrating new life in the labor and delivery ward, few who go to visit, go for a gray area.
In data released by the American Hospital Association, U.S. News created a survey including almost 4,000 hospitals across the nation. Each was rated by patients and physicians, as well as including empirical data like outpatient visits and number of beds to determine which hospitals stood out amongst the rest. For some hospitals with hundreds of years of reputation, the hospital validated a reputation they've had for years: perfection, or extremely close to it.
For southern Colorado, the data didn't reflect numbers anywhere near perfection.
We spoke to the CEOs at four of Colorado Springs and Pueblo's largest hospitals, all rated in U.S. News survey: Parkview Medical Center, Penrose- St.Francis Health Services, Memorial Hospital, and St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center.
There were two main parts to this survey: what the patients said, and how U.S. News determined the rank for each hospital.
What the patients said
Determined by a sample of what patients told the hospital when asked a series of questions.
How patients rate the hospital overall:
High or Very High:
State Average: 69%
National Average: 66%
Parkview: 65%
Memorial: 67%
St. Mary-Corwin: 66%
Penrose- St. Francis: 65%
Low:
State Average: 8%
National Average: 10%
Parkview: 9%
Memorial: 7%
St. Mary-Corwin: 9%
Penrose- St. Francis: 11%
Breaking down the numbers:
Of all of the hospitals, the only hospital who did worse than both the state and national averages was Penrose- St. Francis. CEO Margaret Sabin said she sees this as a chance for improvement.
"We look constantly to review our outcomes, we look for any area we can have improvement in all the indicators- not just morbidity and mortality, but in how patients feel, their perception of their experience here, and the length of stay," Sabin said.
Would patients recommend the hospital to friends and family?
Definitely:
State Average: 73%
National Average: 68%
Parkview: 76%
Memorial: 73%
St. Mary-Corwin: 68%
Penrose- St. Francis: 71%
Probably or definitely not:
State Average: 5%
National Average: 6%
Parkview: 3%
Memorial: 4%
St. Mary-Corwin:6%
Penrose- St. Francis: 7%
Breaking down the numbers:
Parkview is the only hospital that did better than the state and national recommendations.
Penrose St. Francis received the worst recommendations.
Parkview's CEO, Mike Baxter, said despite having the best numbers, he sees the 76 percent of people who would definitely recommend the hospital to mean that 24 percent wouldn't recommend the hospital.
"Our goal is to focus on getting it right for every patient, every time they come in the door," Baxter said.
How U.S. News ranked the hospitals from the American Hospital Association's data
U.S. News has been creating a ranking system with the same methodology for 21 years. Each time, they base their rankings on specific specialties with a percentage breakdown:
Reputation: 32.5%
Mortality Index: 32.5%
Other care factors (nurse staffing, technology): 30%
Patient Safety Index: 5%
Each specialty was ranked with the same methodology.
Parkview Medical Center:
Operated by: Not-For-Profit
Number of Beds: 293
Outpatient visits: 159,972
ER Visits: 60,867
Specialties:
Cancer: 9.9/100
Diabetes & Endocrinology: 26.4/100
Ear, Nose, & Throat: 31.2/100
Gastroenterology: 18.2/100
Geriatrics: 17.7/100
Gynecology: 25.2/100
Kidney Disorders: 22.4/100
Neurology & Neurosurgery: 24.7/100
Orthopedics: 19.5/100
Pulmonology: 22.4/100
Urology: 16.6/100
Breaking down the numbers:
10 of 11 specialties were lower than 30 percent, 5 of 11 were lower than 20 percent.
"In this region and really in the state, we have opportunities to improve like everybody, but I think if you look at the reputations of a Mayo or a Hopkins, they certainly have great reputations, they provide great care," Baxter said. "But, if you look under the details on what we try to do on a daily basis, there's no reason that we can't be one of the best hospitals in the country."
What recent accolades Parkview has received: 9th lowest readmission rates in the country for chronic heart failure from U.S. News & World Report.
Memorial Hospital:
Operated by: City
Number of Beds: 530
Outpatient visits: 519,475
ER Visits: 126,224
Specialties:
Cancer: 9.6/100
Diabetes & Endocrinology: 28.2/100
Ear, Nose, & Throat: 28.5/100
Gastroenterology: 17.7/100
Geriatrics: 14.8/100
Gynecology: 37.6/100
Heart and Heart Surgery: 17.1/100
Kidney Disorders: 22.5/100
Neurology & Neurosurgery: 17.4/100
Orthopedics: 15.6/100
Pulmonology: 19.1/100
Urology: 14.2/100
Breaking down the numbers:
11 of 12 specialties were lower than 30 percent, 8 of 12 were lower than 20 percent
"I think what that says to me is learning opportunity and learning opportunities," Memorial CEO Larry McEvoy said. "So if you look at what health policy people are saying around the country- no one is perfect at developing health care right now. Nobody."
What recent accolades Memorial has received: Colorado Patient Safety Coalition - 2010 Patient Safety Award for Decreasing Fall Rates.
Penrose-St. Francis:
Operated by: Religiously-operated
Number of Beds: 443
Outpatient visits: 243,157
ER Visits: 75,175
Specialties:
Cancer: 15.8/100
Diabetes & Endocrinology: 29.2/100
Ear, Nose, & Throat: 21.1/100
Gastroenterology: 18.6/100
Geriatrics: 19.0/100
Gynecology: 29.7/100
Heart and Heart Surgery: 16.2/100
Kidney Disorders: 19.2/100
Neurology & Neurosurgery: 18.0/100
Orthopedics: 15.9/100
Pulmonology: 24.1/100
Urology: 22.9/100
Breaking down the numbers:
12 of 12 specialties were lower than 30 percent, 7 of 12 were lower than 20 percent
"We always look for room for improvement," Penrose- St.Francis CEO Margaret Sabin said. "I would acknowledge in the studies and surveys that are purely outcome-based, Penrose-St.Francis ranks absolutely at the top of the nation."
What recent accolades Penrose- St.Francis has received: Penrose-St. Francis was named was of “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” for 2008, 2009 and 2010 by HealthGrades
St. Mary- Corwin Medical Center:
Operated by: Religiously-operated
Number of Beds: 241
Outpatient visits: N/A
ER Visits: N/A
Specialties:
Ear, Nose, & Throat: 19.9/100
Gastroenterology: 10.6/100
Geriatrics: 4.6/100
Gynecology: 32.5/100
Kidney Disorders: 16.0/100
Neurology & Neurosurgery: 12.5/100
Orthopedics: 6.9/100
Pulmonology: 8.1/100
Urology: 19.1/100
Breaking down the numbers:
12 of 12 specialties were lower than 30 percent, 8 of 9 were lower than 20 percent
"The quality of our physicians, processes, and infection rates tend to do better than state averages in those things," St. Mary-Corwin CEO Rob Ryder said. "I think, given all the things, I feel very comfortable with and would recommend [St.Mary-Corwin] to my own family."
What recent accolades St. Mary-Corwin has received: St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center's Dorcy Cancer Center, was honored by the Colorado Cancer Coalition as one of the recipients of the group's leadership awards.
Overall Analysis:
No hospital received more than 40 percent in any specialty.
Each hospital had a different take on the methodology.
Parkview believes all surveys have a slightly different methodology, but strives to do well in all of them.
Memorial believes information should trump reputation.
Penrose-St. Francis believe it should be entirely empirical data.
St. Mary-Corwin believes outcomes will be outcomes and hopes their experience will shine through.
It should be noted that all of the hospitals specialties' downfall seemed to be their 'patient safety' for each rating. This could be due to the amount of people they're having to see with a smaller staff, but both the AHA and U.S. News didn't give reason for the safety decline.
While all hospitals did have to deal with 32.5 percent of their rating based on reputation (what a sampling of physicians thought all over the nation), this is the only non-empirical based data, and often why hospitals like Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic receive perfect scores given their widely-known expertise.
Unfortunately, unlike most black and white situations for going to hospitals, analysis and surveys don't have the same distinction, usually landing in the gray area.
We'd like to know what you think. What have your experiences been with local hospitals? Would you recommend them to friends or family? Would you go again, or does it depend on the situation?
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