Lakes Regional Healthcare was recently rated as a five star hospital by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Hospital Compare website. CMS’ Hospital Compare website reports on quality measures for more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Only 407 hospitals in the country were rated five stars, and Lakes Regional Healthcare was the only hospital in northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota to receive a five star rating.
The overall rating summarizes a variety of measures, reflecting common conditions that hospitals treat, such as heart attacks or pneumonia, and shows how well each hospital performed, on average, compared to other hospitals in the United States. Specifically, there are six broad categories reviewed that include patient experiences, timely and effective care, complications and death, unplanned hospital visits, psychiatric unit services, and payment and value of care. Within each of these categories, various measures are reported. For example, for patient experiences, measures such as communication with doctors and nurses, receiving help as soon as the patient wanted, and explanation of medications before being given to the patient are reported.
“Lakes Regional Healthcare has a strong commitment to being innovative and forward-thinking in our approach to improving quality and satisfaction,” said Jason Harrington, Lakes Regional Healthcare President and CEO. “We work collaboratively throughout the entire organization, including working closely with physicians, to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time. We keep a close pulse on what the national quality standards are and what we can do to meet and exceed them. I’m very proud of our performance, and it speaks to the quality of our physicians, staff, and support of our Board in demanding transparency and a commitment to quality.”
Those interested in viewing the full results can visit https://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare/search.html.
