Eglin Hospital named among nation's best

  • Published
  • By Jon Stock
  • Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Eglin Hospital was named as one of three Air Force Medical Service military treatment facilities which earned top accreditation honors recently by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in America, for exemplary performance and were named among the nation's top performers on key quality measures.

The MTFs awarded these honors were the 96th Medical Group; 48th Medical Group, RAF Lakenheath, England; and the 81st Medical Group, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.

The Joint Commission recognized these Air Force MTFs for their outstanding performance in using evidence-based clinical processes that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, children's asthma, stroke and venous thromboembolism, as well as inpatient psychiatric services.

"I can't think of a better recognition," said Col. Gianna Zeh, the 96th Medical Group commander. "Being identified for providing top performing evidence-based medicine is outstanding. It speaks to the commitment our health care providers display, a commitment of trusted care and continued learning. It is truly a privilege to be their commander. The greater privilege is the trust given by our patients."

The three medical groups are among 1,099 hospitals in the U.S. earning the distinction of Top Performer on Key Quality Measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance.

"The Air Force Medical Service is committed to achieving our four critical goals of readiness, better care, better health and best value to ensure the delivery of top quality patient-centered care for our military family," said Brig. Gen. Sean Murphy, Air Force Medical Operations Agency commander. "We are proud to have facilities named on The Joint Commission list and strive to see other exceptional Air Force MTFs earn this elite recognition in the future."

Eglin Hospital met three of the five quality measures inspected, more than any other MTF in the Air Force. The three measures met were pneumonia, surgical care and venous thromboembolism.

"Eglin Hospital looks forward to sustaining these quality measures because outstanding patient care is our top priority," said Zeh.

The ratings are based on an aggregation of accountability measure data reported to The Joint Commission during calendar year 2012. The list of top performers increased by 77 percent from last year and represents 33 percent of all Joint Commission-accredited hospitals. Each of the hospitals on the list received a score of 95 percent, which means the hospital provided an evidence-based practice 95 times out of 100 opportunities to provide the practice. Each accountability measure represents an evidence-based practice - for example, giving aspirin at arrival for heart attack patients, giving antibiotics one hour before surgery when indicated, and providing a home management plan for children with asthma.

"When we raise the bar and provide the proper guidance and tools, hospitals have responded with excellent results," says Dr. Mark R. Chassin, president, The Joint Commission. "This capacity for continual improvement points toward a future in which quality and safety defects are dramatically reduced and high reliability is sought and achieved with regularity. Such day-to-day progress will slowly but surely transform today's health care system into one that achieves unprecedented performance outcomes for the benefit of the patients."