William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital

Joint Commission - Key Quality Measures

BY JANE LUDWIG

In September 2011, the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital was named as one of 405 hospitals in the nation as The Joint Commission’s Top Performers on Key Quality Measures for attaining and sustaining excellence on accountablity measures of performance.  This honor demonstrates that we have achieved and maintained excellent performance on evidence-based practices of care which relates to better patient outcomes. The program is based on data that is reported about processes and treatments for certain health conditions including heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care. Being one of the 405 Top Performers means that we are in the top 14 percent of Joint Commission accredited hospitals.

In 1951, The Joint Commission was founded.  The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting (certification) body in health care. The Joint Commission evaluates and inspires health care organizations to excel in providing safe, efficient, and effective care of the highest quality. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 18,000 health care programs in the United States.

To be awarded this status, the William S. Middleton Veterans Memorial Hospital achieved and sustained a rate of at least 95% for a minimum of 12 months in 2010 on all four accountability measures, (heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care). We are one of twenty Veteran’s hospitals to achieve this distinction. To attain this goal, it took the knowledge, dedication, teamwork, and collaboration of the entire hospital staff.