For the second year in a row, Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) Chicago (Previously known as Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Midwestern Regional Medical Center) is pleased to announce it has received a five-star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Awarded annually, the overall hospital star rating summarizes a wide range of more than 50 measures on Hospital Compare into a single metric. Hospital Compare is a consumer-oriented website that provides information on how well each hospital performed, on average, compared to other hospitals in the U.S., thus helping patients determine which hospitals will provide the best care for them. The overall hospital rating ranges from one to five stars, with the national average at three stars.
This year, the CMS Hospital Compare website reported on quality measures for more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Measures reflected cover seven aspects of quality including mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, effectiveness of care, timeliness of care and efficient use of medical imaging.
“The teams providing direct care to our patients are 100 percent vested in creating an environment that places their care and safety above all else,” says Adrienne Schultz, MSN, RN, HN-BC, ANCC, VP of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at CTCA® Chicago. To achieve the highest levels of clinical excellence and patient satisfaction, they hold themselves to a very high standard –well beyond what is expected.”
Several reasons for CTCA Chicago’s high-quality rating include:
- Hourly clinical inpatient rounding
- Open and clear channels of communication among patients and all care team members
- Ongoing clinical research and sharing of information with internal and external colleagues
- Lean management initiatives (i.e., improving patient wait times)
- Daily in-person, department-wide safety briefings focusing on cause analysis and action plan development
- Dedicated core teams focused on patient experience
- Nursing Council
- Teach Back initiative to ensure patients can clearly understand all information presented
- Daily multi-disciplinary tumor boards
- Daily leadership rounding
“It is a true honor to earn this five-star distinction from a respected health care quality organization like CMS,” said Pete Govorchin, President and CEO of CTCA Chicago. “Receiving this recognition for the second consecutive year is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our physicians, nurses and hospital staff to ensure we continuously provide our patients with the utmost quality of care and service.”
About Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and health insurance portability standards. Other responsibilities include: The administrative simplification standards from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), quality standards in long-term care facilities (nursing homes) through the survey and certification process and clinical laboratory quality standards under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).