Mercy Health System Claims Top 15 Spot

Shorter hospital stays, fewer complications and better patient outcomes are some reasons Mercy is ranked one of the top five large health care systems in the United States, according to a press release from Mercy.

Truven Health Analytics, an IBM company, recently released its annual study of the 15 Top Health Systems for 2016.

Mercy, of Chesterfield, Missouri, was listed after Mayo Foundation of Rochester, Minnesota, the study shows. Mercy was followed by Spectrum Health, Sutter Health and Sutter Health Valley Division.

“It’s an honor and no small feat to be recognized as one of the top systems in the nation for our quality efforts to provide better care and service to our patients,” said Keith Starke, an internal medicine physician and Mercy’s chief quality officer.

The study placed health systems into three size categories ranked by total operating expense.

Large health systems, which included Mercy, had operating expenses greater than $1.75 billion.

The study looked at 338 health systems and 2,912 hospitals. Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers was one of 30 Mercy hospitals included in the study.

The following are some key factors that set apart the top 15 health systems from the rest:

• Saved more lives and caused fewer patient complications.

• Followed industry-recommended standards of care more closely.

• Released patients a half-day sooner.

• Re-admitted patients less frequently and experienced fewer deaths within 30 days of admission.

• Had over 12-percent shorter wait times in emergency departments.