St. Mary’s Health is one of five hospitals in Idaho in 2022 to receive a 5 Star rating from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS assigned star ratings to hospitals nationwide based on their performance across five quality categories including Mortality, Safety, Hospital Readmission Rates, Patient Experience, and Timely & Effective Care.

“This is such a great accomplishment for our hospital,” says Steve Frei, Chief Operating Officer, St. Mary’s Health. “It takes a ton of team work, cooperation, and communication between all the departments in our hospital to achieve something like this. We feel very proud to be in this group with only 13.8% of hospitals in the nation.”

The star ratings for hospital quality were launched in 2007 and are featured on the CMS Hospital Compare website. CMS encourages patients to use this website to help them make decisions about where to receive their care. Along with the overall hospital rating, Hospital Compare includes information on many important aspects of quality, such as infection control measures/rates, complications, and survey results based on patient experience. CMS uses 10 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) measures to determine the patient experience scores for the star ratings. Those measures include: Nurse communication, doctor communication, responsiveness of hospital staff, communication about medication, discharge information, care transition, cleanliness of hospital environment, and quietness of hospital environment, overall hospital rating, and willingness to recommend hospital. “These are metrics we track closely as an organization to identify trends, address concerns, and implement quality improvement initiatives,” states Alyssa Adams, Director of Quality at SMH.

 

In 2021, St. Mary’s Health made the decision to become accredited through DNV. By earning accreditation, SMH has demonstrated that they meet or exceed patient safety standards (Conditions of Participation) set forth by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “SMH made this decision because of DNV’s focus on collaboration, support and education.” says Alyssa Adams, Director of Quality at SMH.  “DNV aligns with SMH’s values of safety, compassion and engagement and has helped to provide a strong foundation for patient safety and quality improvement as an organization.”

 

“We have a dedicated and outstanding team of people here at St. Mary’s and our mission is to become the leader in rural healthcare,” says Frei. “We feel like this 5 star rating for our quality measures and improvements puts us one step closer to accomplishing that goal.”