Hospital receives overall 4-star rating

Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County recently received a 4-star rating on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Care Compare website.

The CMS Care Compare star ratings are meant to help consumers understand the quality of care provided by hospitals. Consumers may find this information by searching under hospitals on the http://www.medicare.gov/care-compare website. Hospitals in this program are placed in peer groups which helps with like comparisons.

Sweetwater Memorial was among the 22% of star-rated hospitals to receive an increase in the overall star rating, which range from 1 to 5. The data used to calculate this update in star ratings is calculated by CMS and spans the time frame of July 2019 through March 2023 for various reported measures. MHSC reported at least three measures in four of the five measure groups.

AN OVERVIEW

As with any report cards or ratings, each must be interpreted in context, as pointed out by the American Hospital Association and Wyoming Hospital Association. It is unlikely any one report card will provide a robust and reliable portrait of quality in a hospital.

When making healthcare decisions, patients should use all available tools at their disposal, such as talking with friends and family and consulting with doctors, nurses, and other trusted healthcare providers, according to the American Hospital Association.

Some of the data used to calculate hospital grades can be years old and may not reflect more recent performance improvement efforts, according to the national and state associations. In addition, not all measures apply to all patients, which can matter when report cards are used as the primary tool to select a hospital for a specific procedure.

MHSC'S MISSION

MHSC employees, leaders and trustees strive to live out the mission for "Compassionate care for every life we touch."

"The patients and community members we interact with and care for are the reason we are here," said Stephanie Mlinar, MHSC Director of Quality. "We desire to continue to use feedback from various methods to continue to improve health outcomes for our patients."

Here are some of the many ways the hospital learns from patients and families to improve the care it offers:

Patient & Family Advisory Council: The council was created in May 2019. Its purpose is to create a venue where employees, patients, and family advisors can work in partnership to address challenges throughout the hospital, said Cindy Nelson, MHSC Person-Centered Care Coordinator. The goal of the council is a commitment to advancing person-centered care, and to work together to improve access, communication, and service with the aim of improving and enhancing the care provided to all hospital patients and families. The group has been meeting monthly for over five years.

Survey Data: Sweetwater Memorial is partnered with Press Ganey to help collect patient experience survey data. The hospital hopes to gather as much feedback as possible regarding patient care and needs, as well as ideas for improvement, said Karali Plonsky, an MHSC quality analyst.

"These surveys are important to us," she said. "It's valuable information we need to know in order to improve. It's another way of helping our community and meeting patient needs."

Training workshops: Sweetwater Memorial are on a journey as a Planetree member hospital. Targeting person-centered care, the three main goals of the program are to create happier, healthier patients and staff; improve patient experience results; and have a reputation for excellence.

These are just a few of the workshops and programs Sweetwater Memorial uses to gain community feedback. Over the years, feedback and/or surveys have shown the opportunity for a variety of changes and additions.