Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center has been recognized among the 10 most cost-efficient hospitals in the United States according to a recent analysis performed by The Lown Institute.
In the report, data from over 3,000 U.S. hospitals was evaluated to output an index that ranks hospitals by their respective cost-efficiency rating. Specifically, hospitals with the lowest mortality rates and lowest Medicare costs earned the highest cost-efficiency scores. Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center ranked #1 in the state of Nevada and #2 nationally.
“We are incredibly honored to receive this national recognition,” said Tiffany Coury, CEO of Saint Mary’s Health Network. “It demonstrates our teams commitment to quality, delivering the right care at the right time and communicating effectively for safe transitions to home.”
Calculating cost-efficiency involved comparison of a hospital’s 30-day mortality rate and associated costs, and 90-day mortality rate and associated costs. Claims information from 2016-2018 served as the primary data source.
The mortality and cost values were plotted on a graph, and each hospital was compared to the values of the ‘most ideal’ performer, defined as having the lowest mortality rates and lowest costs. Then, each hospital’s distance away from the ‘most ideal’ values were measured, leading to the generation of the cost-efficiency metric.
“Improving clinical outcomes while moderating spending is vitally important.. It demonstrates a commitment to improving healthcare at both the system level and for individual patients. I am extremely proud of our clinical and support teams that have worked together to achieve this recognition for Saint Mary’s,” added Erin Madewell, Director of Process Improvement for Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center.
The algorithm is weighted to favor hospitals with lower mortality rates over hospitals with higher mortality rates regardless of cost, an important feature to appropriately acknowledge hospitals associated with positive patient outcomes.
“We focus on ensuring our patients have access to every resource they might need on the care continuum. From the moment a patient crosses our threshold, their health and wellbeing are our highest priority,” said Alan Smith, CFO and COO of Saint Mary’s Health Network. “That focus does not stop upon discharge, though. Our integrated network offers specialty and follow-up services to continue to care for patients long after they’ve left our hospital doors. That, as well as the dedication and clinical expertise of our staff, are a big reason why Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center performs so highly in a metric that focuses heavily on positive patient outcomes.”
The complete list of the most cost-efficient hospitals in the United States features three Prime Healthcare facilities. Prime Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading health systems with 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states.
Prime Healthcare acquired Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in 2012, and since then, Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center has collected hundreds of national awards for its clinical and patient-safety performance. Most recently, Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center received an ‘A’ rating in the Fall 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center’s achievements in protecting patients from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center has earned 11 consecutive ‘A’ ratings for patient safety dating back to 2016.