The staff and medical staff of St. Lukes Hospital have been recognized for their outstanding job of providing quality care to patients, once again rising to the top in patient satisfaction. St. Lukes was named as a 2010 4-Star Award Hospital by Professional Research Consultants (PRC) for achieving excellence in patient satisfaction.

Hospital leaders from across the United States gathered in San Diego in June to participate in the 2010 PRC Excellence in Healthcare Conference hosted by Professional Research Consultants, Inc. PRC is a nationally known healthcare marketing research company headquartered in Omaha, Ne.

In compliance with the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS), St. Lukes Hospital joined hospitals across the country to participate in CMS standardized patient satisfaction survey known as Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, or HCAHPS. Pronounced H-caps, the survey is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients perspectives of hospital care.

According to CMS, many hospitals have collected information on patient satisfaction for their own internal use, but until HCAHPS there was no national standard for collecting and publicly reporting information about patient experience of care that allowed valid comparisons to be made across hospitals locally, regionally and nationally.

For St. Lukes Hospital, this inpatient service research is conducted by PRC. Following discharge from St. Lukes, PRC professional surveyors contact patients via telephone for a confidential interview to assess their perceptions of patient care. The research findings are then presented to St. Lukes to use in continuous improvement and enhancement of patient satisfaction. This data is also used to benchmark against other facilities in the Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), which provides management assistance to St. Lukes.

We are thrilled to receive this Excellence in Healthcare Awards, said St. Lukes President/Chief Executive Officer Ken Shull. It was through the hard work, dedication and determination of St. Lukes employees who have made St. Lukes Hospital a better place for the entire community.

St. Lukes is a small, not for profit community hospital in Columbus, that provides a range of acute care services including a 24-hour physician-staffed Emergency Department, digital imaging capabilities, geriatric psychiatric care, wound and hyperbaric care, general surgical care and advanced orthopaedic surgery and rehab.

This 4-Star Award designation is given annually to healthcare facilities that score in the top 25 percent of facilities surveyed with scores between the 75th and 89th percentiles. It is based on the percentage of patients who rate the facility Excellent for the Overall Quality of Care question. Three key drivers used to determine the Overall Quality of Care score include overall teamwork between doctors, nurses and staff; staffs courtesy and friendliness; and doctors courtesy and friendliness.

Specifically, St. Lukes Hospital has received an 85 percent average score for quality of care when compared to other hospitals across the country using the same patient satisfaction perception survey tool.

This survey provides important feedback that assists us in continually assessing how were doing as a place to work, a place to practice medicine, and a place to receive care, says Shull. Our employees, our physicians and our community have much to be proud of. At St. Lukes Hospital, we remain committed to providing excellent customer service and exceptional care, close to home.