KEVIN HOFFMAN 
REBOOT STAFF
MAR 10, 2015
Ten Illinois hospitals have been recognized as some of the best in the nation by a leading healthcare research firm.
Truven Health Analytics’ annual “Top 100 Hospitals” study evaluated 3,000 hospitals by measuring a variety of indicators associated with organizational performance, which includes patient care, operational efficiency and financial stability. More specifically, the ten metrics are: “mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average patient stay, expenses, profitability, patient satisfaction, adherence to clinical standards of care, post-discharge mortality and readmission rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia.”
The report compares hospitals to one another based on size and teaching status, making it “the only study of its kind that uses a proven national balanced scorecard,” according to the firm’s website.
The highest honor a hospital can receive is the Everest Award, which distinguishes medical facilities that achieve both the best performance and quickest long-term improvement over five years. Only a handful of hospitals earned this accolade, three of which are in Illinois.
Results of the 2015 study found that if all Medicare inpatients in the U.S. received the same level of care as in these top 100 hospitals:
Nearly 126,500 additional lives could be saved
Nearly 109,000 additional patients could be complication-free
$1.8 billion in inpatient costs could be saved
The typical patient could be released from the hospital half a day sooner
Episode-of-illness expense would be 2 percent lower than the peer median
The full report and additional specifics on the evaluation process won’t be published until April, but take a look at which Illinois hospitals made the cut.
Major teaching hospitals
1. Advocate Christ Medical Center – Oak Lawn
Total years won: 7
2. Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center – Chicago
Total years won: 6
3. Advocate Lutheran General Hospital – Park Ridge
Total years won: 16
4. Rush University Medical Center – Chicago
Total years won: 2
Teaching hospitals
1. Riverside Medical Center – Kankakee
Total years won: 6
Large community hospitals
1. Advocate Condell Medical Center – Libertyville
Total years won: 2
2. Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital – Downers Grove
Total years won: 6
3. Central DuPage Hospital – Winfield
Total years won: 8
4. Little Company of Mary Hospital – Evergreen Park
Total years won: 1
Small community hospitals
1. St. Joseph’s Hospital Breese – Breese
Total years won: 2
Everest Award winners – 2015
1. Advocate Condell Medical Center
Times won: 2
2. Little Company of Mary Hospital
Times won: 1
3. St. Joseph’s Hospital Breese
Times won: 2
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Kevin Hoffman is a Reboot Illinois staff writer who graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in journalism, political science and international studies. He believes keeping citizens informed and politicians in check is the best way to improve Illinois and bring about common sense reform. Follow us on Facebook.