Sentara Healthcare named to top health system list

Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare has been named one of the nation’s “Top 15 Health Systems” by IBM Watson Health.

The annual list spotlights high-performing U.S. health systems based on a scorecard of measurements gleaned from publicly available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction data.

Formerly known as the Truven Health Analytics 15 Top Health Systems, the study has been conducted each year since 2008.

The winners included:

Large health systems

Mayo Foundation – Rochester, Minn.
Mercy – Chesterfield, Mo.
Sentara Healthcare – Norfolk
St. Luke's Health System – Boise, Idaho
UCHealth – Aurora, Colo.

Medium health systems

Aspirus – Wausau, Wis.
HealthPartners – Bloomington, Minn.
Mercy Health, Cincinnati – Cincinnati
Mission Health – Asheville, N.C.
TriHealth – Cincinnati

Small health systems

Asante – Medford, Ore.
CHI St. Joseph Health – Bryan, Texas
Maury Regional Health – Columbia, Tenn.
Roper St. Francis Healthcare – Charleston, S.C.
UPMC Susquehanna Health System – Williamsport, Pa.

Key performance measures showed:

Fewer deaths: Overall, the winners had 14.6 percent fewer in-hospital deaths than non-winning peer-group health systems.
Fewer complications and infections: Patients at winning health systems on the list had 17.3 percent fewer complications and 16.2 percent fewer health-care-associated infections than peer-group health systems.
Shorter length of stay: Winning systems had a median severity-adjusted length of stay that was nearly one half-day shorter (0.4) than peers.
Shorter emergency department wait times: Overall, winning health systems had median emergency department wait times that were 40 minutes shorter per patient than those of peer-group systems.
Lower spend: Combined in-hospital and post-discharge costs were 5.6 percent lower per episode in winning systems.
Higher patient satisfaction: Overall hospital experience, as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), was rated 2.3 percent higher for winning systems than peer-group systems.

Watson Health is a business unit of IBM that's involved in the development and implementation of cognitive and data-driven technologies to advance health.