CMS Ranking Shows PMC Leading Central Florida in Clinical Care, Patient Experience, and Low Cost | Among the Best in the Country

TITUSVILLE, Fla., July 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A comparison of nearly 3,000 hospitals throughout Florida and across the U.S. by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shows Parrish Medical Center (PMC) is Central Florida's No. 1 hospital for clinical care, a patient's hospital experience, and low cost.

PMC also ranked as the No. 5 independent public hospital in the U.S. and in the top six percent of the 2,985 hospitals analyzed by CMS. This hospital compare data is important to everyone, not only those on Medicare or Medicaid.

Among the U.S. hospitals in the compare group, PMC placed at No. 186 for overall quality, service and low cost. In comparison, other nationally and regionally known hospitals, such as Cleveland Clinic in Ohio placed at No. 1,372; Florida Hospital in Orlando at No. 1,782; and, the next highest‐scoring Brevard County hospital is at No. 1,926, or 1,740 places below Parrish Medical Center. Other Brevard hospitals scored even lower.

"This is a wonderful statement about the work PMC's care partners do to fulfill our hospital mission of healing experiences for everyone all the time," said Herman Cole, chairman of the PMC board of directors.

"We're a public hospital in Titusville, and CMS data shows us to be exceeding the performance of some of the best-known hospitals in America," Cole added. "It's the result of having a plan that truly works.

"PMC has earned many quality awards, and for the people we serve to have in hand the CMS analysis that puts PMC among America's elite hospitals is a great thing for our patients, their families, and Brevard County."

CMS examined hospital data through a system called value-based purchasing, a system put in place to reimburse hospitals based on quality of care and patient experience (not the number or frequency of services) and to put information in consumers' hands about hospitals' quality and cost.

The clinical measurements included surgeries and treatment for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and other conditions.

Even as PMC was earning the highest composite ratings of all Central Florida hospitals, cost figures show PMC to be Brevard's lowest cost hospital.

"In today's health care world it's important for Brevard residents to know that PMC is not only nationally recognized for clinical quality and for a superior patient experience, but that it is also the county's lowest-cost hospital," said George Mikitarian, PMC president and chief executive officer. "High quality and a great experience as the county's lowest cost hospital are achievements of which PMC's care partners are very proud."

Edwin Loftin, PMC's vice president for acute care and PMC's chief nursing officer, noted that at the other Brevard County hospitals the average charge for treating heart failure is $20,085; PMC's charge is $15,405. The average charge for pneumonia treatment is $23,906; PMC's charge is $16,504.

Patients' impressions of their hospital experience were also evaluated, Loftin said. "This information, from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, or HCAHPS, is critical because it tells hospitals what patients think of the job they're doing."

Mikitarian said PMC in May 2013 earned national recognition - for the third time - for patient safety.

"We received our third 'A' rating for patient safety in the Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Report," he said. In Florida, just 62 hospitals received 'A' ratings. The Leapfrog Group is an independent, national not-for-profit organization composed of leading U.S. employers and private healthcare experts.

"We have two goals at PMC," he said. "The first is to never be complacent with what we've achieved. The second is to improve every facet of hospital service and operations, all the time, to benefit every patient and family member who comes into Parrish Medical Center."

For more information about CMS's National Hospital Quality Initiative data that shows PMC to be one of America's top hospitals and the No. 1 hospital in Central Florida, please visit www.parrishmed.com/itmatters and also visit www.prshmd.com/itmattersvideo for a video message from Herman A. Cole Jr., Col, USAF, Ret., chairman of the PMC board of directors.

About Parrish Medical Center
Parrish Medical Center, located at 951 N. Washington Ave., Titusville, Florida, is a 210-bed, not-for-profit acute care public medical center serving North Brevard County for more than 50 years. PMC has earned three consecutive "A" ratings from the Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Rating Report, a Gallup Great Workplace Award, the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Program SM Award, the Modern Healthcare magazine Top 100 Place to Work in Healthcare, a Spirit of Excellence Award, and was voted America's # 1 Healing Hospital three years in a row. The medical center also has been awarded four disease-specific certification gold seals from the Joint Commission in acute coronary syndrome, breast cancer, heart failure and stroke. For more information, visit www.parrishmed.com.

SOURCE Parrish Medical Center