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South County Hospital is one of only 19 hospitals in the country to receive the highest score of 5-Stars in two areas used to measure healthcare excellence – Overall Hospital Quality and Patient Care.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Star Rating System to simplify complex criteria that measure healthcare quality so that healthcare consumers can make informed decisions. The ratings are assigned to over 4,000 hospitals across the country.
“Our staff is focused on delivering the best patient care possible. We strive to ensure that our healthcare system performs up to our own high expectations,” said South County Health president and CEO, Lou Giancola. “When the data reinforces the success and feedback we get from our patients, it reassures us that we are providing quality care, centered on the patient. It also inspires us to work harder to improve outcomes and the patient experience.”
South County Hospital is the only hospital in the Northeast to earn a 5-Star rating in the two categories.
Overall Quality
The Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating incorporates 57 measures on outcomes using data collected from sources such as the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program and the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program, as well as patient experience scores.
Scores are based on mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, effectiveness of care, timeliness of care and efficient use of medical imaging.
Patient Experience
Patient experience scores are based on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), a national survey that asks discharged patients 27 questions about their hospital stay, ranging from nurse communication to environment, pain management and discharge information.
Patient experience surveys focus on how patients perceived key aspects of their care. Patients gave South County Hospital high scores on their experience of critical aspects of health care, including communication with their doctors and nurses, understanding their medication instructions and the coordination of their healthcare needs.
A 5-Star rating in each of these areas indicates a hospital is doing an exceptional job of meeting both patient expectations and providing a high level of quality care.