Mercy Named Top Five Health Care System in the U.S.

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Apr 24, 2018, 06:00 ET

ST. LOUIS, April 24, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Shorter hospital stays, fewer complications and better patient results are just a few metrics used to rank Mercy as one of the top five large health systems in the nation, alongside Mayo Clinic. The 2018 Watson Health 15 Top Health Systems study recognizes five large, five medium and five small systems from 338 health systems and 2,422 hospitals across the U.S. Click here for listings.

"For the third straight year, we are honored to be named one of the top five large systems in the nation for the medical care we provide to our communities," said Lynn Britton, president and CEO of Mercy. "By putting rigorous plans in place, we've been able to achieve improvements such as reducing common health-care associated infections like C-diff (Clostridium difficile) by more than 60 percent. This means we can prevent unnecessary suffering for our patients and get them home healthier and sooner."

The focus on health-care associated infections is a new metric in the study this year due to its impact on patient care – including reducing deaths – as well as lowering the cost of care. Mercy's efforts tied to C-diff reduction have led to significantly higher prevention and earlier detection, and have resulted in avoiding more than $5 million in health care costs from 2016 to the present.

Watson Health, an IBM company and formerly known as Truven Health, produces the only study of its kind to combine rigorous analysis of individual hospital performance metrics into system-level data, identifying the best health systems in the nation. This annual, quantitative scorecard uses objective, independent research and public data sources. Health systems do not apply for consideration, and winners do not pay to market their award.

Mercy outperformed peers in the following ways:

Saved more lives
Lower cost of care
Readmitted patients less frequently
Shorter wait times in emergency departments
Shorter hospital stays

Some of the keys to improving care include:

Mercy was among the first health care organizations in the U.S. to have an integrated electronic health record connecting all points of care. Clinical best practices can be hard-wired into the system, resulting in triggers that warn of possible complications.
With more than 2,000 integrated physicians – one of the largest medical groups in the nation – Mercy brings primary care and specialty doctors together to implement proven, clinical-based best practices to improve patient care.

SOURCE Mercy