LEXINGTON, Ky. ─ CHI Saint Joseph Health has been recognized as one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems according to an independent quality analysis based on a scorecard provided by PINC AI, the technology and services brand of Premier, Inc., and reported by Fortune. By category, the Lexington-based system is recognized as one of the nation’s top five medium-sized health systems; due to a tie, there are six systems in this category.
PINC AI conducted an objective, quantitative analysis of publicly available data to create a list to identify the top health systems in the U.S. The primary purpose of the PINC AI 15 Top Health Systems™ study is to inspire hospital and health system leaders to pursue higher performance and deliver added value to their patients and communities. The quantitative study is based on a balanced scorecard consisting of various measurements distributed across four pillars: clinical, financial, operational and patient experience.
“This recognition among the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems, and the six best medium-sized systems in the country, is a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence in providing health care services,” said Anthony Houston, Ed.D., FACHE, market president, CHI Saint Joseph Health. “This honor reflects the dedication to excellence and human kindness of our exceptional caregivers across Kentucky. They are fulfilling our mission daily, living our values and achieving excellence. We are honored to be recognized as one of the country’s top six medium-sized health systems as part of the nation’s PINC AI™ 15 Top Health Systems.”
15 Top Health Systems™ program performance
This year, based on comparisons between the study winners and a peer group of similar health systems, the analysis found that the winners of the 15 Top Health Systems™ program delivered better outcomes while operating more efficiently and at a lower cost. Compared to non-winning health systems, this year’s winners had:
- 21 percent fewer deaths.
- 5 percent fewer patients with complications.
- 21 percent fewer healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
- The 0.5-day shorter average length of stay.
- Better reported patient experience scores, with a top-box Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) score of 74 percent versus 69.6 percent for non-winning hospitals.
“Health system leaders are continuously focused on quality, excellence and patient-centered care,” said Leigh Anderson, Premier’s chief operating officer and the leader of PINC AI™. “A selection as one of the 15 Top Health Systems is a great honor and demonstrates the importance of health system leadership and proven strategies for improvement. As one of the 15 Top Health Systems™, CHI Saint Joseph Health has achieved high-quality health care and the implementation of key strategies that have directly led to significantly improved patient outcomes, with fewer readmissions and complications.”
About the Study
The 15 Top Health Systems quantitative study is based on clinical, operational, financial and patient perception-of-care measures that form a balanced scorecard. The scorecard results are divided into two separate sections that graphically illustrate:
- A health system’s performance and improvement versus other peer health systems.
- Cross-system performance alignment of system hospitals.
The study is designed to provide a view of health system performance across multiple dimensions: how they stand compared to peers and high performers (whole-system performance), where they stand in the evolution of their own cultures of performance improvement (relative long-term improvement and rate of improvement), and the achievement of cross-system performance alignment (system hospital performance). For complete methodology details, please review the complete study here.
Eligible health systems are determined based on final scorecard performance. To account for differences in scale among health systems, the study categorizes health systems into three groups: large, medium and small health systems.
