From San Luis Obispo to Santa Maria, there’s one major hospital patients seem to like most, according to data from the California HealthCare Foundation.
As of Feb. 25, the data—which can be found online at calhospitalcompare.org—indicates French Hospital in San Luis Obispo ranks the highest in “overall patient experience,” with an approval rating of 74 percent, or “superior” status. The data gave Santa Maria’s Marian Medical Center a “below average” grade of 54 percent. San Luis Obispo’s Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center came in second with 66 percent, or “average” status, followed by Twin Cities Community Hospital with 58 percent. Arroyo Grande Community Hospital came in last with a rating of 53 percent.
The rankings are compared to hospital averages at the state and national levels and address issues such as physical comfort, coordination of care, transition to home, safe medical practices, and more. The state average for overall patient experience is 65 percent, according to the website. The national average wasn’t available.
In response to this portion of online data, Marian Medical Center released the following statement: “The overall patient experience results reported by the California Hospital Compare are from an incredibly low sample size. The results are not consistent with the statistically valid reporting of patient satisfaction at Marian by Avatar, an independent third party vendor, which shows excellence in patient satisfaction for many services at Marian.”
Arroyo Grande Community Hospital released a statement expressing similar sentiments to Marian’s, casting doubts on the validity of the report’s statistics and sample size, and pointing out that the facility “has consistently achieved superior and above average scores in clinical measures such as heart attack and heart failure care.”
Anna Scott, media relations/communications manager for Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, noted that both Marian and AGCH score near 90 percent in overall patient satisfaction with Avatar.
“We really believe a larger sampling tells a truer picture of our patients’ overall experience,” she said in an e-mail.
According to calhospitalcompare.org, more than 240 hospitals have participated in the voluntary survey, representing more than 86 percent of acute care hospital admissions in the state. Hospitals on the site are rated on quality and timeliness of care for several health conditions, as well as patient experience with overall medical, surgical, and maternity care, and adherence to recommended patient safety procedures.
The site reported that data for the three portions of the February 2010 survey were collected throughout 2005 and 2009. Hospital performance in the survey is evaluated compared to national benchmarks of high, middle, and low performance.
Calhospitalcompare.org is the product of a partnership between the California HealthCare Foundation, U.C. San Francisco, and the California Hospitals Assessment and Reporting Taskforce, a nonprofit public benefit corporation.
Data also showed French Hospital came out on top in the two other categories: “critical care: ICU mortality rate” and “patient safety.” French had the lowest average ICU mortality rate and the highest percentage for patient safety. Marian Medical Center fared much better in these categories, receiving an “above average” status in both statistical portions. Arroyo Grande Hospital garnered a “superior” mark for “surgical care measures.”
This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 4, 2010.