Grady General makes state Honor Roll of top hospitals

Grady General Hospital has earned high marks for its health care services from a state hospital group. The Georgia Hospital Association’s Partnership for Health and Accountability named Grady General to its Core Measures Honor Roll.
The Cairo hospital is one of 26 in Georgia to be placed in the Trustee category, one of the highest on the list. The honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the Federal Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services, which administers the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The data was collected from January 2011 to December 2011.
“This is a great accomplishment for Grady General Hospital,” said Joseph Parker, president of the Georgia Hospital Association. “This recognition further underscores the commitment of the Grady General Hospital staff to ensuring that every patient receives the best, most effective health care possible.”
“Our staff works very hard to maintain a safe patient care environment and to provide the right care at the right time,” said LaDon Toole, Grady General Hospital administrator. “This award is a testament to their efforts and commitment to patient safety.”
Hospitals are required to submit care data to the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services, which detail how well a hospital’s caregivers adhere to a list of Value-Based Purchasing core measures. These measures are the clinical processes of care that are known to be the most effective methods of treatment for surgical patients and patients who have suffered heart attacks, pneumonia and heart failure.
For instance, a recommended treatment to help prevent a heart attack is to take aspirin either before or upon arrival at the hospital, as well as at discharge. A suggested treatment for pneumonia is to administer an antibiotic within four hours of a patient’s arrival. It is recommended that surgery patients are given an antibiotic one hour prior to surgery to prevent infection. The Value-Based Purchasing core measure is a composite measure that determines whether or not a patient received the right care at the right time. A hospital’s adherence to these recommended clinical practices usually leads to better outcomes.