Joint Commission recognizes Penn State Hershey as ‘Top Performer’

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has been recognized as a 2013 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® by The Joint Commission, an independent agency that accredits hospitals. The Medical Center was recognized as part of the commission's 2014 annual report “America's Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety,” for achieving excellence in performance on its accountability measures during 2013. Penn State Hershey is one of 1,224 hospitals in the United States to achieve the 2013 Top Performer distinction.

The Top Performer program recognizes hospitals for improving performance on evidence-based interventions that increase the chances of healthy outcomes for patients with certain conditions.

“Penn State Hershey employees have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to quality improvement, and we should be proud that we have earned this distinction as a Top Performer in the areas of heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care,” said Dr. A. Craig Hillemeier, chief executive officer of Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Health System, Penn State's senior vice president for health affairs, and dean, Penn State College of Medicine. “Providing our patients with the high quality care they expect and deserve is the very foundation for creating an extraordinary patient experience.”

To be a Top Performer, hospitals had to meet three performance criteria based on 2013 accountability measure data, including achieving cumulative performance of 95 percent or above across all reported accountability measures. More information about the criteria is available on The Joint Commission's website.

“We're proud of this accomplishment and of the dedicated staff who live our focus on safety and quality every day,” said Dr. Andrew Resnick, chief quality officer at Penn State Hershey. “Though this recognition is based on performance of at least 95 percent, we are committed to 100 percent as our institutional goal.”

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