Southwestern Medical Center Earns 4-Star CMS Rating for Overall Hospital Quality

Southwestern Medical Center (SWMC) announced it has been awarded four stars in the latest round of Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  SWMC’s Overall Hospital Quality 4-Star Rating puts it among the top 29 percent of all eligible hospitals in the U.S. with respect to patient safety and the overall patient experience. Only 988 of the more than 4,500 hospitals rated received five stars.

”A lot of hard work and commitment to following stringent quality standards goes into ensuring our patients receive safe, high quality care,” said Elizabeth Jones, chief executive officer of SWMC. “We are proud to have received this recognition from CMS and look forward to continuing our efforts to enhance healthcare delivery and advance our mission of Making Communities Healthier.”

The Star Ratings program is designed to increase healthcare transparency and help patients and their family members make informed decisions about healthcare. CMS’ Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings measure hospitals based on their performance across five quality areas: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timeliness and effectiveness of care.

SWMC has launched several initiatives aimed at further enhancing the quality of care provided to patients, including executive patient safety rounding, learning boards, and daily briefs.

“We are honored to serve the healthcare needs of our communities,” Jones said. “I would like to thank our medical staff and clinical team members for their commitment to our patients and to one another. It is their dedication that made this four-star rating possible and will continue to drive our quality improvement initiatives going forward.”

For more information on the Star Ratings Program, visit the CMS website at Medicare.gov. For more information on SWMC, visit SWMConline.com.