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Desert Valley Hospital Named One of the Nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by Thomson Reuters for the 6th time

Anaheim, Calif., April 16, 2012 – Desert Valley Hospital today was named a “100 Top Hospital” by Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of healthcare. This is the sixth time Desert Valley Hospital has earned the national recognition.

“This award reflects the commitment to excellence and the dedicated patient care that our hospital provides daily,” said Margaret R. Peterson, PhD, CEO of Desert Valley Hospital. “We are proud to be acknowledged as a leader in health care with this prestigious award.”

With nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals surveyed, the hospitals demonstrated that high-quality patient outcomes can be achieved while improving efficiency.  According to Thomson Reuters, if all hospitals performed at the same level as the 100 Top Hospitals award winners:

•    More than 186,000 additional lives could be saved.
•    Approximately 56,000 additional patients could be complication-free.
•    More than $4.3 billion could be saved.
•    The average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.
•    The typical winning hospital charges $464 less per discharge than the typical non-winner.

“This prestigious recognition speaks volumes to our commitment to quality patient care,” said Prem Reddy, MD, FACC, FCCP, Chairman, President and CEO of Prime Healthcare Services. “I congratulate the physicians, nurses and staff at these hospitals for their deep devotion to the highest standards of quality care in the country.”

Five of the nine California community hospitals that earned the Thomson Reuters “100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success, 2012” were Prime Healthcare hospitals: Centinela Hospital Medical Center, among the large community hospitals, Chino Valley Medical Center, Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center, West Anaheim Medical Center [three-time winner], among the medium community hospitals, and Desert Valley Hospital [six-time winner], among the small community hospitals. This is the thirteenth time a Prime Healthcare hospital has been recognized with this honor.

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals study evaluates performance in 10 areas: mortality; medical complications; patient safety; average patient stay; expenses; profitability; patient satisfaction; adherence to clinical standards of care; post-discharge mortality; and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, and pneumonia. The study has been conducted annually since 1993. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.

April 12, 2012

Phillipsburg, NJ – Prime Healthcare Services (PHS), a progressive and rapidly expanding hospital management company based in Ontario, CA, currently owns and operates sixteen acute-care hospitals. In February 2012, PHS signed a master agreement with INFINITT North America to replace PACS and Cardiology PACS at several of its California hospitals.

Prime Healthcare Services (PHS) has been ranked by Thomson Reuters as one of the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation (January, 2012) based on quality of care, efficiency and patient satisfaction. The mission of PHS is to provide comprehensive, quality healthcare on a model that emphasizes timely and cost-efficient emergency care.

Centinela Hospital Medical Center (CHMC), a 369-bed PHS hospital, implemented the INFINITT PACS five years ago to support the full spectrum of diagnostic services and almost 60,000 ED visits annually. The PACS increased reading efficiency and reduced report turnaround times, metrics directly related to Emergency Department throughput and quality of care.

“The INFINITT PACS helped us to deliver services in a more timely and efficient manner,” said Shawna Tanaka, CHMC’s Radiology Director. “We also like INFINITT’s ED Notes feature; we encourage all our ED physicians to jot down their impressions to give the radiologists a better overall picture of the patient’s condition.”

INFINITT PACS has also been implemented at Encino Hospital Medical Center (151 beds) in Encino, CA and Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville, CA (83 beds). Additional implementations are planned for Chino Valley Medical Center in Chino, CA; Sherman Oaks Hospital in Sherman Oaks, CA; Alvarado Hospital (Cardiology PACS) and newly acquired Harlingen Medical Center in Texas (Radiology and Cardiology PACS).

INFINITT PACS is a category leader in KLAS, having achieved No. 1 rankings in the Best in KLAS Awards: Software and Services for Community PACS for three years in a row (2009, 2010 and 2011).* KLAS is an independent research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting on vendors’ performance in the healthcare market. For more information, visit www.KLASresearch.com.

About INFINITT North America

INFINITT North America, located in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of INFINITT Healthcare, a global company with more than 2500 PACS installations worldwide. Infinitt’s web-based image and information management solutions include RIS, PACS, Cardiology PACS, Mammo PACS, Orthopedic PACS, Dental PACS and 3D/Advanced Visualization software, all operating on a single database. This architecture simplifies workflow, increases system reliability, and reduces cost and support requirements. For more information, visit Infinitt at www.infinittna.com or contact marketing@infinittna.com.

Local hospitals rated top 5 percent in survival rates
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created:   04/01/2012 06:16:59 PM PDT

UPLAND – Patients seeking emergency care at a local hospital may be interested in knowing their likelihood for survival.

Denver-based company CPM HealthGrades named the top 5 percent of hospitals across the country for survival rates.

San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland made the grade.

“We’re proud of our effort,” said Kevin Parkes, medical director of San Antonio’s emergency department. “We know we’re doing a good job day in and day out. It’s nice to get this kind of recognition.”

The hospital was presented with the HealthGrades 2012 Emergency Medicine Excellence Award.

This is their third year receiving the recognition, Parkes said.

“Patients look at what hospital their going to in terms of medical conditions where they’re going to have the best chance or best outcome,” Parkes said.

“By choosing one of the top five percent of hospitals you can improve your chances of doing well.”

Chino Valley Medical Center in Chino and Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville also made the list.

The findings are based on an analysis of more than 7 million Medicare patient records from 2008-10.

The HealthGrades Emergency Medicine in American Hospitals report focused on 12 of the most common and life threatening medical emergencies including heart attack and heart failure, pneumonia, respiratory failure, stroke, diabetic acidosis, pancreatitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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The hospitals that made HealthGrades’ Emergency Medical Excellence list had on average 41.52 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality.

If all hospitals performed at the level of the Emergency Medicine Excellence hospitals from 2008-10, and additional 170,856 people could have potentially survived their emergency hospitalization, according to HealthGrades.
Reach Sandra via email, call her at 909-483-8555, or find her on Twitter @UplandNow .

Desert Valley Hospital Foundation in Victorville, CA continues to help students who wish to pursue a career in healthcare but require financial aid in order to pursue their education. Desert Valley Hospital is part of the Prime Healthcare Services (PHS) hospital network which currently operates 14 facilities throughout California. PHS was recently recognized as a Top Ten Health Network by Reuters.

An awards ceremony was held recently at Victorville Conference Center attended by the renowned High Desert philanthropist, Dr. Prem Reddy.

The same day Ryan Rodriguez found out state budget cuts had cost him $6,000 in grants from the University of California, Irvine for the coming school year, he got a welcome bit of good news.

Rodriguez, who aims to become a combat rescuer with the U.S. Air Force, learned he’s one of 58 local students to receive between $1,000 and $5,000 in scholarships through the Desert Valley Charitable Foundation.

“I’m still going to have to take out some loans, but this is going to help a lot,” according to Rodriguez. .

Desert Valley Hospital’s foundation awards $100,000 in scholarships each year to local students pursuing a medical or health-care career. The amount each recipient received this year was based on the student’s financial situation and which school he or she attends.

Desert Valley awards $100,000 in scholarships – Victorville Daily Press http://bit.ly/oMc7g9

“Charting a new course in healthcare management”. So reads the copy on Prime Healthcare Services website and with good reason. The Ontario, CA, based healthcare system continues to expand its growing network of 14 acute care hospitals throughout the State.

Over the past decade, Prime has steadfastly adhered to a strategy based on sound business principles without ever compromising the quality of patient care. While many hospitals failed to keep up with the increasing costs of providing care to patients in the face of dramatically declining reimbursement rates, Prime saw an opportunity to revive ailing hospitals.

The word ‘profit’ has traditionally been taboo in the world of healthcare but the reality is that financial success can go hand in hand with quality medical care and Prime has proven it time and again. By employing a progressive and innovative management model, Prime is now recognized as the top performing healthcare network on the West Coast.

Community hospitals have to operate for the long run and in order for this to happen, medical care and financial success have to go hand in hand. Prime are gradually changing the mentality that health care is not supposed to be profitable. Ensuring that a hospital can support itself financially may seem a novel concept for some, but for Prime, a hospital must be operated in a way that will allow it to sustain itself even the toughest economic times.

Prime identifies community-based hospitals that are deep in the red and on the brink of closure. Following a successful acquisition Prime steps in and turns the hospital into a profitable and quality functioning operation. Sometimes it can involve tough decisions about redeploying staff and resources but every effort is made to minimize the impact on the community.

Hospitals are now seeing a larger percentage of acutely ill patients who need a higher level of care as insurance companies are sending more patients for elective cases to diagnostic centers. In today’s tough economic climate emergency rooms are being flooded with patients with no money and no insurance. Recent data shows that 35 to 40 percent of emergency room patients are without means to pay for their medical bills. In addition, patients are waiting until the eleventh hour to come to hospital emergency rooms and often have multiple medical issues that consume a lot more resources than the cost of providing preventative health care.

Following an acquisition, Prime invests millions of dollars into the infrastructure, including technological investments such as paperless records systems, new medical equipment, and digitalized radiology and information systems to provide up to the minute clinical and financial data. Prime then looks at the operational side focusing on five core measures to successfully run its hospitals: clinical quality efficiency, morality, medical complications, patience safety and average length of stay conforming to clinical standards of care.

The flow of patients is critical and Prime has established an impressive performance record in its ERs. Prime expects patients to be seen by a physician within 30 minutes of entering the emergency room.

Prime is viewed as something of an anomaly in the healthcare industry but continually defies the skeptics who are resigned to the notion that small hospitals can not survive. In the meantime, the accolades, awards and recognitions keep pouring in. Thomson Reuters Research identified Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. as one of the Top 10 United States Health Systems based on clinical performance. Of the 252 health care systems that participated in the polling of the clinical data, Prime was the only health care system chosen west of the Mississippi. The study relied on public data from the 2006 and 2007 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data and the CMS Hospital Compare data sets.

Prime’s Desert Valley Hospital and West Anaheim Medical Center were named two of the top four California medical facilities on the Modern Healthcare Top 100 list. Three of Prime’s hospitals (West Anaheim, Centinela Hospital Medical Center and La Palma Intercommunity Hospital) were named on US News and World Report’s 2009 Best Hospitals’ List.

Desert Valley Medical Group recently hosted a Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting ceremony for the new Senior Wellness Center in Apple Valley. The center is located just outside of the Jess Ranch community at 19181 Town Center Drive. Over 100 members of the business community attended including local dignitaries as well as City and State Officials who presented resolutions for the opening. Renowned High Desert philanthropist Dr. Prem Reddy, Chairman of the Board of Desert Valley Hospital and Prime Healthcare Services was also in attendance.

Guests enjoyed a Farmer’s Market themed presentation complete with fresh fruits and vegetable, and displays that promoted the healthy living goals of the new Center. Many services are offered including free health screenings, wellness workshops, health education, and social activities.

The Wellness Center has a large meeting area, 2 exam rooms, a physician’s office, and conference room or consultation room. It is staffed by volunteers from the Hospital Auxiliary. Designed with Seniors in mind, the location next to several senior communities, make it a natural gathering place for health and wellness events and resource information.

Margaret Peterson, CEO for Desert Valley Medical Group, said, “We offer health screenings, blood sugar testing, blood pressure checks, and flu shots. The focus is health promotion and illness prevention. Our role is to help patients manage their health better.”

The Center is available to everyone in the community and is open weekdays from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Prime Healthcare Services (PHS) operates Desert Valley Hospital, a member of its highly acclaimed,14-hospital, statewide healthcare network. The rapidly expanding organization focuses on meeting the needs of each community it serves and the High Desert community of the Inland Empire has a large senior population that is underserved. The new Senior Wellness Center will go a long way to meeting many of those needs and is another example of PHS’s commitment  to providing comprehensive care to each of its communities.

An ambitious expansion at Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville, CA is nearing completion. The facility was the first in the Prime Healthcare Services (PHS) System which now boasts 12 hospitals. While many hospitals struggle to survive, Prime continues to respond to market demands by creating a healthcare delivery model that improves efficiencies and ultimately, improves patient outcomes.

Prime hospitals have gained a reputation for creating extremely efficient ERs. Patients are not kept waiting for hours in a crowded ER department, paramedics experience less time ‘on the wall’ waiting for beds to open up so are able to respond to more emergencies, and overall patient flow is optimized. Last year, over 29,000 patients flowed through the Desert Valley ER department which will now be even more efficient with additional beds and improved efficiencies.

An additional Cardiac Cath Lab and 65 additional beds at an estimated cost of $10 million, demonstrates Prime’s commitment to this growing community. Cardiac care including an Open Heart program, have become an integral component of the Prime model.

There is a significant older population in the High Desert region of California and Prime has now dedicated an entire facility to senior wellness. The Desert Valley Senior Wellness Center is now open and offers a comprehensive range of activities open to all seniors including screenings, preventive programs, healthy lifestyle classes and social events.

Since opening its doors in the early 1990s, Desert Valley Hospital has consistently been recognized as a Top 100 Hospital in the Nation by a prestigious healthcare ranking organization.

With a healthcare industry in a state of flux, Prime continues to acquire ailing hospitals and save them from potential closure. It has established a pattern of investing millions of dollars in facility and equipment improvements even in the face of reduced state and federal reimbursements.

Managing hospitals like any other business is essential for survival in today’s healthcare environment. Underfunded services are no longer feasible in a state like California that is going broke and unable to provide adequate reimbursements. This volatile situation has resulted in difficult decisions regarding the viability of some essential services as well as challenging staffing issues.

Since the advent of managed care during the 1980s, the proliferation of healthcare insurers, and the huge profits garnered by healthcare administrators and bloated management, the Prime model is a  remarkable success story. Smart management, a visionary approach involving physician driven patient care, and a practical approach to market demands has resulted in the survival of several hospitals, the expansion of others, and thousands of healthcare jobs protected.