Atlanta, GA – (June 30, 2010) DeKalb Medical at Hillandale
in Lithonia has been named to the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA)
Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Quality Honor Roll.
DeKalb Medical at Hillandale is one of 51 hospitals in Georgia to be
placed in the Presidential category. The honor roll is based on clinical
data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid & Medicare
Services (CMS), which administers the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid
programs. The data was collected from January 2009 to December 2009.
“This is a great accomplishment for DeKalb Medical at
Hillandale,” said Joseph Parker, president of GHA. “This recognition
further underscores the commitment of the DeKalb Medical at Hillandale
staff to ensuring that every patient receives the best, most effective
health care possible.”
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 receive
the right care at the right time and this recognition validates this,”
said Clay Fowler, F.A.C.H.E., administrator, DeKalb Medical at
Hillandale. “This honor is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of
our staff who are constantly working to make excellent care even
better.”
About
DeKalb Medical at Hillandale
The 100-bed hospital located in
Lithonia was the first planned all-digital hospital in Georgia. Serving
more than 150,000 patients since opening in 2005, the hospital offers
inpatient and outpatient surgery, an adult ICU and 24-hour emergency
services. The non-profit hospital is one of three hospitals in the
DeKalb Medical system and was one of the first in Georgia to implement
an electronic medical records system and online patient appointment
scheduling for improved care satisfaction and safety. To learn more,
visit www.dekalbmedical.org.
About PHA
The
Partnership for Health and Accountability, formed in January 2000 and
sponsored by the Georgia Hospital Association, is a unique statewide
collaborative that brings together health care providers with community
agencies and individuals to achieve healthy communities. PHA includes
representation from groups like hospitals, physicians, state health
officials, legislators and businesses.