Hospital Comparison: UMASS Teaching Hospital

Hospital Comparison: University of Massachusetts teaching hospital Your Name Course No. Professor Date of Submission HOSPITAL COMPARISION: UMASS HOSPITAL Introduction The University ofMassachusetts Memorial Medical Center is a one star rated U.S healthcare provider. However, based on patient survey summary, the hospital has a 3 star rating which compares favorably within the patient survey category. The Umass Memorial hospital is located in 55 LakeAvenue,NorthWorcester. This paper compares the hospital’s average performance against peers within the state and nationally using data retrieved from Medicare’s hospital compare search portal. Umass Hospital Comparative Analysis In terms of patient experience, 78% of the patients surveyed reported that UMMC nurses always communicated well, against the Massachusetts and national average of 81% and 80% respectively. Ineffective communication between healthcare professionals and patients can hinder the quality of healthcare (Agarwal, Sands & Schneider, 2010). Patients who reported that their doctors constantly communicated well were 79% of those surveyed as compared to the Massachusetts and national average rates of 81% and 82% respectively. This shows that the hospital needs to improve patient care communication. According to Adler-Milstein and Jha (2014), effective physician-patient communication is critical for improved healthcare outcomes. Patientswho expressed dissatisfaction in terms of getting prompt help whenever they needed were60% against the Massachusetts and national average of 66% and 69% respectively (MEDICARE, 2018). Patients who felt that their pain was well controlled were 66%, which compared unfavorably with the Massachusetts and national average. However, there was a significant decline in patient satisfaction with respect to explanation on medicine use with only 62% expressing satisfaction against the Massachusetts and national average of 64% and 65% respectively. However, patients who felt that the hospital maintained high sanitary conditions especially in rooms and bathrooms were 72% against the national average of 75%, indicating that there is dire need for improvement (MEDICARE, 2018). Nevertheless, less than half of those surveyed felt that the area around their rooms was quite at night, with 54% stating that the hospital environment was extremely noisy. Notwithstanding the noisy hospital environment, Umass hospital compared unfavorably with peers in Massachusetts and nationally with averages of 52% and 63% respectively. The hospital compared favorably in terms of patient education, surpassing the national average by 2% points while remaining at par with the regional average. However, Umass faired unfavorably in terms of patient care explanation thus performing dismally against the local and national peers. Thus it performed 3% and 2% points below the state and national average. Similarly, the hospital performed dismally in terms of patient rating on a scale 0-10 where only 70% of patients rated the hospital favorably as compared to the national average of 73% (MEDICARE, 2018). Similarly, thehospital compared favorably against the national average in terms of possible hospital recommendations, even though it was 1% point below the state average. Moreover, Umass hospital compares favorably in terms of using certified electronic health records as it fully satisfies the EHRS national requirements, even though its overall rating of 1 out 5 stars was unfavorable both regionally and nationally. Umass hospital is an Acute Care Hospital that provides all types of emergency services. In the timely and effective care category, and specifically in the cataract surgery sub-category, there was no data for comparison. In the colonoscopy follow-up category, the hospital’s performance was at par with the state average at 91%, which was 5% points higher than the national average. This shows that a significant number of patients got recommendation for colonoscopy follow-up screening. Still, the hospital compared favorably above the state and national averages, reporting 96% as compared to 91% and 89% for state and...