Emory-Adventist earns honor roll recognition

was recently named to the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Quality Honor Roll. Emory-Adventist Hospital is one of 61 hospitals in Georgia to be placed in the Presidential category, one of the highest on the list.

“This is a great accomplishment for Emory-Adventist Hospital,” said Joseph Parker, president of GHA, in a news release. “This recognition further underscores the commitment of the Emory-Adventist Hospital staff to ensuring that every patient receives the best, most effective health care possible.”

The honor roll is based on clinical data, which was collected from January 2010 to December 2010, provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), which administers the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs.

According to the release, all acute care hospitals are required to submit care data to CMS. This data details how well a hospital’s caregivers adhere to a list of eight Appropriate Care Measures (ACM), which are the clinical processes of care that are known to be the most effective methods of treatment for patients who have suffered heart attacks, heart failure or pneumonia. The ACM is a composite measure that determines whether or not a patient received the right care at the right time.

For instance, a recommended treatment to help prevent a heart attack is to take aspirin either before or upon arrival at the hospital, as well as at discharge. A suggested treatment for pneumonia is to administer an antibiotic within four hours of a patient’s arrival. A hospital’s adherence to these recommended clinical practices usually leads to better outcomes.

“It is our mission to ensure that each of our patients receives the right care at the right time and this recognition validates this,” said Dennis Kiley, chief executive officer of Emory-Adventist Hospital, in the news release. “This honor is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our staff who are constantly working to make excellent care even better.”