Johns Hopkins Medicine Hospitals Achieve Top Performance in Quality and Safety

To the Johns Hopkins Medicine community

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that, for the first time, the Joint Commission has recognized three of our hospitals in its Top Performer on Key Quality Measures program.

Congratulations to The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Sibley Memorial Hospital and All Children's Hospital for receiving this prestigious designation reserved for accredited hospitals that consistently—and at a very high level—follow best practices for treating people who require surgery or suffer heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, and pneumonia, and other serious conditions.

Top-performing hospitals recognized in the 2013 Joint Commission annual report achieved 95 percent compliance with best practice processes of care, known as accountability measures, in one or more areas during the 2012 calendar year. These measures track whether patients receive such therapies as prompt administration of aspirin to a patient suffering from a heart attack.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital earned Top Performer honors for heart attack, heart failure, surgical and pneumonia care; Sibley Memorial Hospital for pneumonia and surgical care; All Children's Hospital for asthma care.

These accolades reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that our patients always receive evidence-based care that offers the best chance of recovery. They also acknowledge the tremendous progress we've made since trustees and leaders from across Johns Hopkins Medicine committed to achieve 96 percent compliance with targeted measures in December 2011 as part of our broader effort to demonstrate national leadership in patient safety and quality.  

The Top Performer recognition follows another recent accolade. This summer, the Delmarva Foundation presented Howard County General Hospital, Suburban Hospital, Sibley Memorial Hospital and The Johns Hopkins Hospital with the 2013 Excellence Award for Quality Improvement in Hospitals. The award is given for improved performance in accountability measures, plus an additional measure that tracks how often heart failure patients received information about their medications, diet/exercise restrictions and medical follow-up before leaving the hospital.

While it is wonderful to add another award to our list of accomplishments, what's most gratifying is knowing that our patients reap the real benefits. This high standard of success could not have been met without the dedication of all of our colleagues, from the bedside to the board room, across our academic and community hospitals and the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. We thank you for your commitment to always providing our patients with excellent care. 

Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Ronald R. Peterson
President
The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System
EVP, Johns Hopkins Medicine