Mercy Hospital in Rogers named one of nation’s top 100 hospitals in new study

Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers was named one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation by IBM Watson Health.

The organization published its 100 Top Hospitals annual study on Monday (March 4) identifying top-performing hospitals in the U.S. using publicly available data for clinical, operational and patient satisfaction metrics.

This is the first year Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas has been recognized. The study has been conducted annually since 1933.

“We are enthusiastically celebrating this designation because it shows our hospital team’s dedication to saving lives, reducing complications and ensuring patients have the best possible outcomes,” said Eric Pianalto, president of Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas. “I’m proud of this recognition for Mercy and for all of the outstanding co-workers who carry on the mission of the Sisters of Mercy in the compassionate care they deliver every day.”

The study spotlights the top-performing hospitals in the U.S. based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction metrics and data. Based on the results of this year’s study, IBM Watson Health concludes that if all Medicare patients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities then more than 103,000 additional lives could be saved and $8.2 billion of inpatient costs would also be saved. The report also cites more than 38,000 additional patients could be complication-free resulting in about 155,000 fewer patients being readmitted within 30 days of their discharge.

Mercy Northwest was the only hospital listed in the top 100 in the study. A complete list is available here.

Other findings from the study include the following metrics:

• The top 100 hospitals achiever survival rates 24.9% higher than those of peer hospitals.
• Patients at winning hospitals experienced 18.7% fewer complications and 19.3% fewer healthcare-associated infections than peer group hospitals.
• Average inpatient costs per discharge were 11.9% lower (a difference of $830 per discharge) at 100 Top Hospitals versus peer group hospitals.
• Winning hospitals maintained a median operating profit margin that was 11.9% higher than peer group hospitals.

“At a time when research shows that the U.S. spends nearly twice as much on health care as other high-income countries, yet still has poorer population health outcomes, the 100 Top Hospitals are bucking the trend by delivering consistently better care at a lower cost,” said Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals program leader at IBM Watson Health. “The hospitals on this list represent the current vanguard in value-based care and we applaud their commitment to quality.”