St. Tammany Health System’s Covington hospital is one of just 332 nationwide, nine in Louisiana and the only one in the New Orleans metro area to achieve a Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) rate of zero in recently released figures from Becker’s Hospital Review, publishing data compiled throughout 2019.
CAUTIs are among the most common hospital-acquired infections. STHS’s zero-rate achievement is the result of a team-wide effort that reflects the health system’s aggressive and continued emphasis on safety in every facet of patient care, health system leaders said.
This national recognition comes on the heels of STHS achieving a five-star overall rating from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) the only hospital in a 100-mile radius to earn the top rating for treatment of heart attacks and pneumonia, readmission rates and safety of patient care.
Measures taken into consideration for the 5-Star rating include timely and effective care, complications and mortality, unplanned hospital care and value of care.
The timely and effective care measures show how often or how quickly STHS provides care that research shows gets the best results for patients with certain conditions, and how hospitals use outpatient medical imaging tests (like CT or MRI). This information can help patients compare which hospitals give recommended care most often as part of the overall care they provide to patients.
Complications and mortality measures examines STHS performance of best practices related to hospital care. Unplanned hospital visits are another measure where quality and safety can be measured. The 5-star ranking from CMS examines how STHS performed at delivering high quality care that kept patients from needing to return to the hospital for the same issue.
Value is a concern for CMS and for all patients seeking care in hospitals. The CMS ranking related to value examines STHS’s Medicare spend per beneficiary (whether Medicare spends more, less or about the same on an episode at STHS compared to all other inpatient facilities in the US).
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The heartbeat of its community, St. Tammany Health System cares for patients and families with excellence, compassion and teamwork. It is recognized for quality, safety and service excellence by CareChex, Leapfrog, Healthgrades, Hospital Compare, Women’s Choice and US News & World Report. St. Tammany Parish Hospital Service District No. 1 and Ochsner Health work together in partnership to improve the community’s health and quality of life. Together, west St. Tammany’s top two independent health leaders represent the most complete system of care, aligning behind the common goals of improving access, expanding specialty care and making care affordable. Under their agreement, each retains its autonomy; neither manages nor owns the other. Self-supporting, not-for-profit STHS is A+ rated by Fitch and receives no tax funding. More at StTammany.health