So far, so good: WVU Healthcare is ranked 15th in UHC's mid-year quality report

WVU Healthcare was ranked 15th, according to a mid-year report issued by the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) at a national meeting in May.

UHC is an alliance of more than 100 of the nation's leading nonprofit academic medical centers and their affiliated hospitals. The alliance is focused on delivering world-class patient care. Its Quality and Accountability Study is issued annually at its fall meeting.

WVU Healthcare was ranked No. 37 in last year’s study – its best-ever ranking. By focusing on clinical improvements that boost its quality measures, WVU Healthcare has shown continuous improvement since its last ranking in key areas such as patient mortality, safety, effectiveness of care and patient satisfaction, said Michael Sweet, director, Center for Quality Outcomes.

“A lot of things that are written in our Performance Improvement (PI) Plan are also in their calculator,” Sweet said. “The good thing about these rankings is they are not based on reputation. UHC puts a lot of work into it, and the rankings are purely based on performance.”

And while WVU Healthcare is projected to be ranked No. 15 in UHC’s end-of-year report, Sweet said the final rankings include data from care provided from Jan. 1 to June 30. WVU Healthcare’s final ranking will be revealed in October.

“We have seen continued improvement in mortality, efficiency and effectiveness,” Sweet said. “We rank in the top five for safety and effectiveness. We might not be top 10 yet but we are getting closer and improving faster than others.”