13 Pennsylvania Hospitals Receive Five Star Rating In New Ranking

By JUSTIN HEINZE and BETH DALBEY

There’s some good news and some not good news in the latest comparison of hospitals from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Pennsylvania has thirteen hospitals among the 242 nationally that earned the coveted five-star rating, which is based on patient responses to Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys between Jan.1 and Dec. 31 of 2014.

The following Pennsylvania hospitals achieved a five star rating:

• Jersey Shore Hospital, Jersey Shore
• Wellspan Surgery And Rehabilitation Hospital, York
• Oss Orthopaedic Hospital, York
• St. Luke’s Hospital- Anderson Campus, Easton
• Advanced Surgical Hospital, Washington
• Physician’s Care Surgical Hospital, Royersford
• Rothman Orthopaedic Specialty Hospital, LLC, Bensalem
• Surgical Specialty Center At Coordinated Health, Allentown
• Surgical Institute Of Reading, Wyomissing
• Coordinated Health Orthopedic Hospital, Bethlehem
• Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Philadelphia
• Doylestown Hospital, Doylestown
• Main Line Hospital - Paoli, Paoli

The CMS said the number of lowest-ranked hospitals for patient experience doubled in the latest Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare list, while the number of five-star facilities slid.

According to the data, 242 U.S. hospitals earned only one star in latest compilation, up from 102 one-star hospitals in July.

Seven Pennsylvania Hospitals were among them. including the following:

• Jameson Memorial Hospital, New Castle
• Clearfield Hospital, Clearfield
• St. Joseph’s Hospital, Philadelphia
• Crozer Chester Medical Center, Upland
• Lehigh Valley Hospital - Hazleton
• Sacred Heart Hospital, Allentown
• Nazareth Hospital, Philadelphia

Patients receive the surveys at the end of their care and are asked to answer questions on the quality of the experience they received from each hospital. Poor scores can result lower reimbursement rates from Medicare under the government’s value-based purchasing program.

CMS updates its database quarterly.

In its latest report, 309 hospitals earned five stars, a drop from the 548 that earned high marks in July. The latest tally, however, is higher than the 251 that earned five stars when the rankings were first announced in April.

CMS said 1,135 hospitals earned four stars, 922 earned three stars and 931 earned two stars in latest rankings.

While government tracking, and the incentives or penalties that follow, are designed to drive hospitals to make improvements in care and patient experience, a recent report by the Government Accountability Office suggests that the program is having little effect on hospital quality.

However, the GAO added that the long-term effect of financial penalties could drive the kind of improvement CMS is looking for.

According to the GAO, in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 74 percent of hospitals earned a median bonus of $39,000 and a median penalty of $56,000. The remaining 26 percent were either the highest- or lowest-ranked hospitals and eared much higher rewards or penalties.

Check the ranking here.

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