LLUAHSC SCOPE Summer 2001 - Intensive care unit

Intensive care unit named among top 100 in nation

[SCOPE, Summer 2001]

ICU
Helen Jenks, MS, RN (standing), executive director of critical care and emergency services, overlooks the coronary care unit which encompasses the cardiac ICU. Also shown are Jennifer Carpenter, RN (left), clinical nurse, coronary care unit, and Louis Kelly, monitor technician, coronary care unit.

A study released by the Solucient Leadership Institute on March 15 named Loma Linda University Medical Center as having one of the top intensive care units in the nation.

LLUMC was named as part of the teaching hospitals listing, and was the only medical center from California to be listed in that category.

"Many ‘report cards' exist today in the marketplace and we are excited to be included in the 100 Top Hospitals: ICU Benchmarks for Success," states Gerald A. Ellis, MBA, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Loma Linda University Medical Center.

"The administrative team is evaluating the methodology used in this designation to confirm the good news, but we are clearly pleased to be included in the 100 Top Hospitals: ICU Benchmarks for Success. This designation represents so many good things organizationally since ICU care is one of the most complex processes in health care.

"Being named in the 100 Top Hospitals: ICU Benchmarks for Success reflects the dedication and competence of all members of our medical team. We are thankful to work with such a great team that lives our mission ‘to continue the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, to make man whole,'" Mr. Ellis says.

The study utilized data from both the most recent hospital databases available and Solucient's diagnosis-related group (DRG), which contains the claims information on approximately 12 million Medicare patients discharged annually from acute-care hospitals across the nation.

Findings from the study concluded that the 100 top hospitals have better clinical outcomes for ICU patients than do other hospitals.

"If all ICUs performed at the level of ICUs at the 100 top benchmark hospitals, mortality rates could drop more than 20 percent for post-surgical patients and 15 percent for medical patients," the study states.

Also according to the study, the 100 top hospitals were found to:

use their resources more efficiently than other hospitals do;
have ICU patients that spend less total time at the hospital than other acute-care hospitals; and
achieve substantially better outcomes for their most critically ill ICU patients.

"If all acute-care ICU units performed at the level of the 100 top hospitals, the number of deaths for patients on mechanical ventilation for at least four days would fall by over 8 percent," the study noted.

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‰ For more information regarding the hospitals listed in the 100 Top Hospitals: ICU Benchmarks for Success study, and for the complete list of results of the study, see the website at <www.usatoday.com/news/health/iculist.htm>.

[SCOPE, Summer 2001]