UA News

The annual award is based on the performance of more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals on mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average length of stay, expenses and other factors.

A national study has named University Medical Center – the primary teaching hospital for The University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy – among the top 100 hospitals in the nation for overall performance for the fourth year in a row.

The health care consulting firm Thomson Reuters recently announced winners of its 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks Award in the United States.

The 16^th annual award is based on the performance of more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals on mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, cash-to-debt ratio, patient satisfaction and adherence to clinical standards of care.

UMC's consistently high performance over the past several years also earned the hospital an Everest Award for National Benchmarks, a new award from Thomson Reuters. UMC was the only Arizona hospital, and among only 23 hospitals in the  nation, selected for the Everest Award.

"The boards, executives and physician leaders of the Everest Award-winning hospitals developed long-term strategies and executed them with extraordinary skill and extraordinary results," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president at Thomson Reuters. "The Everest Award winners have reached the point at which innovation is a must to improve further."

In the 100 Top Hospitals study, Thomson Reuters researchers evaluated 3,000 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals. They used public information – Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare data set.

According to Thomson Reuters, the 100 Top Hospitals have higher survival rates, keep more patients complication-free and have lower expenses – all while maintaining financial stability.

They estimate that if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those in the 100 Top Hospitals winners:

• More than 107,500 additional patients would survive each year.
• Nearly 132,000 patient complications would be avoided annually.
• Expenses would decline by $5.9 billion a year.
• The average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.

"These awards are a tribute to our Board, our doctors, and our staff," said UMC President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Pivirotto. "They remind us that our efforts and innovations every day and over the past few years are making a difference."

UMC specializes in world-class heart and cancer care and organ transplantation, and is southern Arizona's only Level 1 Trauma Center. In 2010 UMC will open the Diamond Children's Medical Center to serve the medical needs of Arizona's youngest patients.