QUALITY MEASURES AND OUTCOMES

Quality Measures
Infection Rates at Skagit Valley Hospital
National Patient Safety Goals
Accreditations and Memberships
 

Quality Measures

Skagit Valley Hospital is committed to providing safe, quality patient care and embraces transparency in public reporting of quality measurements and national scorecards to promote education and awareness among consumers. This commitment matches Skagit Valley Hospital’s vision to make “Skagit Valley Hospital the best regional community hospital in the Northwest, dedicated to understanding and exceeding our patients’ expectations.”

Skagit Valley Hospital is at the forefront of transparency by voluntarily providing quality and pricing data to initiatives including the Washington State Hospital Association’s Quality Measures Web site, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare Web site and participation in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 100,000 Lives and 5 Million Lives campaigns. Skagit Valley Hospital is proud to have earned a five-star rating for coronary interventional procedures from HealthGrades, an independent rating firm.

Learn more about Skagit Valley Hospital’s quality performance at these state and national Web sites:

• Washington State Hospital Association Hospital Quality Measures
• Hospital Compare
• HealthGrades
• The Joint Commission

Infection Rates at Skagit Valley Hospital

Skagit Valley Hospital's number one service standard is SAFETY. Infection prevention is one of the top goals under that standard. Washington residents can now compare and research infection rates for hospitals by going to a new Web site dedicated to Healthcare Associated Infections, sponsored by the state Department of Health.

Reporting of infection rates in hospitals is controversial because of variation in monitoring and methods of collecting the data.  

If you choose to compare our rates with others please understand that a true comparison requires standardized definitions. Infections may occur after the patient goes home. Current good practice dictates review of discharge codes looking for patients with infections acquired while in hospital and, also, soliciting information from surgeons’ offices about infections that might have shown up after discharge.

Hospitals that dedicate a great deal of time and resources to collecting data may report higher rates than those who do not.

The rates below are calculated on the basis of 100 procedures and the number of people who have had that procedure and become infected. Thus with a rate of 1% it would still mean that one person out of 100 may become infected after undergoing that procedure.

In 2007 our overall surgical site infection rate was 1.5%. In 2008 YTD the rate is 1.3%.  This would mean that a person having surgery would have just over a one percent chance of getting a surgical site infection. The national data, most currently reported for 2004, suggests a 5% chance of getting a surgical site infection.

The following table illustrates our current Surgical Site Infection rates for different surgeries. The comparison is data that approximately 300 hospitals reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system.
 

MRSA or Methcillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a cause for concern in communities and hospitals. Skagit Valley Hospital has been in the forefront of prevention efforts since 2000. We expend much effort to prevent our patients from developing MRSA in the hospital. A major challenge is that more patients are acquiring MRSA in the community and then enter the hospital already carrying this very resistant and opportunistic bacteria. We are pleased to report that rates of obtaining MRSA at Skagit Valley Hospital are below the national average.

Patient Safety Goals

Skagit Valley Hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission and participates in National Patient Safety Goals established by the commission’s Board of Directors. Learn more at the Joint Commision site.

Accreditations and Memberships

The Joint Commission
Skagit Valley Hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit organization that certifies more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. The Joint Commission’s accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects a hospital’s commitment to meeting performance standards.
 

The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer
Skagit Valley Hospital is accredited by The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The hospital has been certified by the American College of Surgeons since 1975, which acknowledges the hospital’s quality, multidisciplinary cancer care program that meets rigorous compliance standards.

The American Hospital Association
Skagit Valley Hospital is a member of the American Hospital Association, a national organization founded in 1898 that represents and serves nearly 5,000 hospitals, plus health care networks, and their patients and communities. The American Hospital Association serves as an educational resource on health care issues and trends for leaders at Skagit Valley Hospital.
 

The Washington State Hospital Association
The Washington State Hospital Association is a membership organization representing community hospitals and several health-related organizations. The association provides issues management and analysis, information, advocacy and other services.

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Skagit Valley Hospital’s Regional Cancer Care Center is honored to be selected as just the second network affiliate of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, a partnership of three world-renowned cancer programs, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Washington Medicine and Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. As a network affiliate since 2005, our patients benefit from the resources, research, clinical trials and treatment options of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, while in treatment here at the Skagit Valley Hospital Regional Cancer Care Center.