Illinois Hospitals - 2012 yearly Survey find some teaching hospitals fail to make the grade | June 6, 2012

Some Illinois teaching hospitals fail to make the grade

By Thomas A. Corfman and Anthe Mitrakos June 06, 2012
Crains Business - Healthcare Daily





(Crain's) — Teaching hospitals at Loyola University and the University of Illinois have received C's in a new safety survey that rates more than 100 institutions in Illinois.

Seven hospitals did not receive passing grades, including Loretto Hospital and Norwegian American Hospital.

Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Maywood and the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System were among the 30 medical centers statewide that received barely passing grades in the annual survey conducted by Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that represents large corporations and public agencies that buy health benefits for employees.

The survey rates hospitals based on patient care outcomes and safety initiatives using hospital responses and data from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. When hospitals decline to participate, Leapfrog uses additional information from CMS as well as the American Hospital Association.

“Loyola University Health System has not participated in the Leapfrog survey for two years,” said Dr. Robert Cherry, Loyola's chief medical officer, said in a statement. The hospital network was acquired last year by Novi, Mich.-based health care network Trinity Health.

A U of I spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The seven in Illinois that did not receive passing grades include five in Chicago:

• Loretto, along the Eisenhower Expressway in the Austin neighborhood

• Norwegian American in West Town

• Sacred Heart Hospital in Humboldt Park, on Northwest Side

• Roseland Community Hospital and South Shore Hospital on the South Side.

Advocates for safety-net hospitals say their institutions are often penalized by such ratings because they serve high numbers of poor patients, who can't afford outpatient health care.

Amid mounting concerns about the quality of health care, attention to various hospital ratings has increased. Some experts caution against putting too much weight on any particular rating.

The survey gave A's to 51, or 44 percent, of the 114 hospitals that were rated.

• Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center

• Advocate Trinity Hospital

• Northwestern Memorial Hospital

• Resurrection Medical Center

• Rush University Medical Center

• St. Joseph Hospital of Chicago

• Swedish Covenant Hospital

• Thorek Memorial Hospital

• University of Chicago Medical Center.

We need consumers, physicians, hospital boards, health plans and purchasers to be aware of how their hospitals have scored and urge those not receiving an A to work toward that level of safety,” said Larry Boress, CEO of the Chicago-based Midwest Business Group on Health, which is helping promote the survey.

The ratings do not include specialty hospitals, such as those that treat children.

Leapfrog was founded in 2000 by Business Roundtable, a Washington, D.C.-based association of CEOs.


Note: The spelling of Mr. Boress' last name has been corrected.

@ http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120606/NEWS03/120609900/some-illinois-teaching-hospitals-fail-to-make-the-grade