MDMC receives high rating

MDMC receives high rating

SIKESTON - Being a smaller, rural hospital may mean Missouri Delta Medical Center doesn't have the resources for special procedures such as open heart surgery, but it doesn't keep them from providing the highest standard of care available.

"Bigger is not always better," said Felecia Blanton, MDMC's public relations director. "We made a 96 on our inspection by the Joint Commission, which is the nationwide group that accredits hospitals all over the country."

"It's like a benchmark for hospitals to meet," Blanton explained. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Services is an independent, not-for-profit organization that has set standards for health care organizations and programs in the United States since 1951.

"The national average last year was 88," said Charles Ancell, MDMC's CEO. "I don't know that they've ever given a 100 to anybody."

Blanton said they were scored after a three-day inspection by a Joint Commissions team made up of a medical doctor, a nurse and an administrator who are all established professionals in their respective fields.

During the inspection, hospitals are scored in three different categories which cover everything from the care of patients and staff competence to information management and infection control.

"Under each of those categories there's literally hundreds of standards," Ancell said.

The Joint Commission doesn't recommend any procedures, but just sets standards. "They don't tell us how to meet them," said Ancell. "We have to set up our own policies and procedures to reach those standards."

Inspectors read over the hospital's policies and procedures, look through its records, interview patients and quiz the staff on what they would do in different situations.

"They comb the place very thoroughly, then they give you a report," Blanton said.

The preliminary score on the Accreditation Decision Grid showed 96 out of 100. Although the final decision won't be released for another six to eight weeks, final results typically don't vary from the preliminary report.

Hospitals are inspected every three years and labs every two years.

The inspections and accreditation are entirely voluntary, cost $50,000 and are a lot of work for the staff, according to Ancell, but are very important when dealing with insurance companies and are recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality.

Joint Commission accreditation is also accepted by Medicare as compliance with their standards and can be important when recruiting medical professionals as well. "Physicians want to know you're an accredited hospital," said Ancell.

Ancell said people are really not supposed to compare hospitals based on their Joint Commission score, however. "It is a score of how you meet the standards," said Ancell. It can be taken as an indicator, however, that MDMC provides "as high a standard of care" as can be found anywhere in the nation.

This is the second time MDMC managed to score a 96, having done so once before six years ago. Ancell said MDMC has shown "steady improvement" in their inspections over the long-term.

MDMC is able to score so well "because our people are so concerned and involved," Ancell said. "Everybody is involved."

The inspections cover "the whole spectrum of service and patient care," according to Ancell. "And they really look at teamwork."

Keeping hospital staff informed about the proper way to do things requires "a continual education process keeping everyone up to date," Ancell said.

The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 18,000 facilities.

In addition to providing Hospital Accreditation Services, Joint Commissions offers standards and accreditation for HMOs and other health care networks, home care organizations, nursing homes and other long term care facilities, assisted living facilities, behavioral health care organizations, ambulatory care providers and clinical laboratories.