Iron Mountain VA Earns Award

The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center today was named one of the nation’s top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America. The VA Medical Center, located in Iron Mountain, MI, was recognized by The Joint Commission based on data reported about evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and children’s asthma.

The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center is one of only 405 U.S. hospitals – and one of only ten in Michigan – earning the distinction of top performer on key quality measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in performance measures. Of that number, 22 percent are rural hospitals, making the VA Medical Center one of approximately 89 rural hospitals to make the list. Inclusion on the list is based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported to The Joint Commission during the previous calendar year.

To be recognized as a top performer on key quality measures an organization must meet two 95 percent performance thresholds. First they must achieve a composite performance of 95 percent or above after the results of all the accountability measures for which they report data to The Joint Commission were factored into a single score, including measures that had less than 30 eligible cases or patients. Second, they must meet or exceed a 95 percent performance target for every single accountability measure for which they report data, excluding any measures with less than 30 eligible cases or patients.

The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center was recognized for achieving these thresholds for Pneumonia.

“Today, the public expects transparency in the reporting of performance at the hospitals where they receive care, and The Joint Commission is shining a light on the top performing hospitals that have achieved excellence on a number of vital measures of quality of care,” says Mark R. Chassin, President of The Joint Commission.

We are honored to be named to the list of The Joint Commission’s Top Performers,” said Jim Rice, Director of the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center. “We understand that what matters most to Veterans and their families at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center is safe, effective care. That’s why we have made a commitment to accreditation and providing superior, patient-centered care through evidence-based care processes,” said Rice.

In addition to being included in today’s release of The Joint Commission’s “Improving America’s Hospitals” annual report (http://www.jointcommission.org/annualreport), the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center will be recognized on The Joint Commission’s Quality Check website (http://www.qualitycheck.org).