VCU news

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley

RICHMOND, Va. – MCV Hospitals of the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center has been recognized as one of the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals in the United States with the highest improved patient outcomes and financial performance over a five-year period.

Solucient Corporation, which maintains the country’s largest healthcare database, announced the selection of MCV Hospitals for a Solucient 100 Top Performance Improvement Leaders Award in a letter to Dr. Eugene P. Trani, VCU president and president and chair of the VCU Health System, the governing body of MCV Hospitals.

“The Solucient 100 top Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leaders, The First Edition study is designed to identify hospital leaders – CEOs and boards – that have instilled a highly functioning culture of performance improvement across the organization over five consecutive years,” wrote Jean Chenoweth, executive director of the Solucient Institute.

Based on an analysis of overall U.S. hospital improvement rates between 1997 and 2001, the study identifies organizations that have improved across critical measures at a faster rate than other U.S. hospitals. These measures include quality of care, operational efficiency and financial performance.

"The study is a major step forward in objectively measuring the impact a superior management team can have on an organization over time by instilling a culture of change," said Chenoweth. "These hospitals are poised to thrive as the growth of pay for performance and consumerism change in the industry."

Facilities recognized on the Performance Improvement Leader list are represented across five hospital classes.  MCV Hospitals is one of 15 major teaching hospitals, and the only one in the south, to be recognized for the award.  The study scored facilities according to key measures:  risk-adjusted mortality and risk-adjusted complications, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, percent of outpatient revenue, total asset turnover, and coding specificity.

“We are honored but not surprised to be singled out as a performance improvement leader among the nation’s top hospitals,” Trani said.  “The VCU Medical Center administration, board and staff have worked tremendously hard over the past few years to exceed the goals for our clinical, education and research mission and at the same time improve our financial performance.”

Trani’s pride in the performance of MCV Hospitals was echoed by Dr. Sheldon Retchin, VCU Health System CEO and VCU vice president for health sciences.  “I think this is especially reflective of the devotion to quality performance by our outstanding physicians, nurses, therapists and their personnel,” Retchin said.  “The best is yet to come.”

Other major teaching hospitals named as Performance Improvement Leaders include Johns Hopkins Hospital, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  More information on this study is available at www.100tophospitals.com.