UVA MEDICAL CENTER RANKS AS ONE OF THE NATION’S TOP 100 HOSPITALS

                                                         CHARLOTTESVILLE  ,  – The University of Virginia Medical Center is one of only 15 major teaching hospitals to be ranked among the nation’s top 100 hospitals, according to Solucient’s 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success study. In addition, the Medical Center is one of only two hospitals from the Commonwealth to be selected. This is the seventh year the Medical Center has received the honor.

"It is tough to stay on top, but the University of Virginia Medical Center keeps proving itself in noteworthy ways," said R. Edward Howell, vice president and chief executive officer of the UVa Medical Center . “Our faculty and staff continue to provide outstanding and innovative patient care, which is the key to our success. They really do go the extra mile for patients."

This year, Solucient included information about the value of the Top 100 hospitals it chose. The company estimated that "if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those in the 100 Top Hospitals" across all categories:

• An additional 106,312 patients would survive each year.
• More than 117,000 patient complications would be avoided annually.
• Expenses would decline by a total of more than $7.6 billion a year.
• The average patient stay would decrease by more than half a day.

The award recognizes hospitals that have achieved excellence in quality of care, operational efficiency, financial performance and adaptation to the environment. "These top 100 hospitals react quicker to challenges than their peers, and they focus on all aspects of care, not just one," says Jean Chenoweth, Solucient's executive director of the 100 Top Hospitals program. She noted that the study measures organizationwide performance that touches every employee.

More information on this study and other 100 Top Hospitals research is available .Copies of the 100 Top Hospitals report can be purchased by calling Solucient at 1-800-568-3282 . An article about the study appears in the Feb. 27 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine.