Among The Best and The Worst

I find it interesting that in the past month, we have stories of best and the worst of our area. I find it even more interesting we have a top 400 hospital competing with one of the bottom two worst hospitals, and in the ranked in the same categories.

Yes I know, they are different finding and different reports. Having a high ranking and being pointed out as one of the worst rankings are worlds apart, no matter the source of the data.

3 regional hospitals named among best in nation | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC

Chester Regional Medical Center, Springs Memorial Hospital in Lancaster and Carolinas Medical Center – recently picked to build a Fort Mill Hospital – were selected among the top 405 best performing hospitals in the national by the Joint Commission.

Springs Memorial and Carolinas Medical Centers in Pineville and downtown Charlotte were selected for the care in heart attack, congestive heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care.

Report: Piedmont Medical worse than U.S. average for 3 causes of death | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC

Piedmont Medical Center scored worse than the national average on three key medical measures - deaths by heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia - according to a report just released by Medicare.

Piedmont's Medicare rating, along with Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Macomb, was among the worst of 4,600 hospitals reviewed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The centers reviewed Medicare patient data from mid-2007 to mid-2010.

"This should be a big red flag you've got a problem," said Dr. Mary Tyrell, a former health care management professor at Lander University.
Tyrell said poor performance in one area might be explained, but poor outcomes in three of the six areas measured shows "there are some systemic problems at this facility.
It points to management and patient care problems."