St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital in Greensboro has been named to the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Core Measures Honor Roll. 

Good Samaritan Hospital is one of 23 hospitals in Georgia to be placed in the Presidential category, one of the highest on the list. The honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), which administers the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The data was collected from July 2012 to June 2013.

Hospitals are required to submit care data to CMS, which details how well a hospital’s caregivers adhere to a list of Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) core measures. These measures are the clinical processes of care that are known to be the most effective methods of treatment for surgical patients and patients who have suffered heart attacks, pneumonia and heart failure.

For instance, a recommended treatment to help prevent a heart attack is to take aspirin either before or upon arrival at the hospital, as well as at discharge. A suggested treatment for pneumonia is to administer an antibiotic within four hours of a patient’s arrival. It is recommended that surgery patients are given an antibiotic one hour prior to surgery to prevent infection. The VBP core measure is a composite measure that determines whether or not a patient received the right care at the right time. A hospital’s adherence to these recommended clinical practices usually leads to better outcomes.

“We are pleased to recognize Good Samaritan’s commitment to patient safety,” said Earl V. Rogers, president of GHA. “Compliance with these important core measures ensures that every patient receives the best, most effective health care possible.”

Celia Covington, RN, director of nursing at St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital, gave credit for the accomplishment to her team. “Since we became part of St. Mary’s in January 2012, the focus has truly been on quality at all levels of the organization,” she said. “I am very proud of our team for putting quality patient care first.”

“We constantly strive to maintain the highest standard of patient care,” said Montez Carter, President of St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital. “This honor validates that and is a tribute to the dedication of the staff members who ensure that great patient care is made even better.”