NYHQ in top 100 U.S. hospitals

For a second year in a row, New York Hospital Queens (NYHQ) has been selected as one of the top 100 performance improvement leaders among major teaching hospitals in the United States, according to a national study.
The results of the 2007 study were released on Monday, August 11, by nationally recognized healthcare information company, Thomson Reuters. The company shares the data so that all hospitals can use it to improve their own performance.
NYHQ was one of only two hospitals in New York City to make the list, and the only one in Queens. Located in Flushing, it is a member of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and is an affiliate of Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
“It is an honor to be recognized by an independent organization for our teamwork approach to quality, safety and satisfaction that is producing results for our patients,” said Stephen S. Mills, President and Chief Executive Officer.
The Thomson 100 Top Hospitals Performance Improvement Leaders study sets national benchmarks for the rate and consistency of improvement in clinical outcomes, safety, hospital efficiency, financial stability and growth. The latest report used publicly available Medicare data from 2002 to 2006.
“We were one of only eight hospitals in New York State to be named on this list - out of more than 2,800 hospitals nationwide,” Mills said adding, “We are very proud of this accomplishment.”
The study reviews all U.S. hospitals licensed to treat Medicare patients. Eight performance measures are examined at each hospital: risk-adjusted mortality and complications, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, cash-to-debt ratio, growth in patient volume, and “risk-adjusted patient safety index.”
A 439-bed bed acute, tertiary care facility, NYHQ was selected as a result of the following gains over the course of the study:
Decreased patient deaths, complications, and adverse safety events.
Financial stability and healthy management of hospital expenses.
Decreased patient’s length-of-stay by nearly a day, despite an increase in treating more seriously ill patients.
The hospital administration pointed out that the decrease in length-of-stay translates into a direct financial benefit to patients.