Spectrum national top 10!

[suydam]

Spectrum Health the only Michigan hospital ranked in Thomson Reuters' top 10

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20100706/HEALTH/307069996#

Sometimes these rankings seem disingenuious, and there are always 100s of them.

BUT, Thomson Reuters is the real deal... they're the only one I've heard of as "real" in terms of something people use to actually rank quality in health care.

[jas49503]

It's the whole system which is in the top ten, not a particular hospital. I wouldn't say that they are disingenuous but pretty much every hospital in the country it seems is one of the"top 100" it all depends on the criteria which can be selected to suit whatever agenda is desired. for instance a hospital that does great with mortality may not treat many sick patients while one that treats lots of people that that are about to die look terrible even though it may be a far better hospital.

[suydam]

It's the whole system which is in the top ten, not a particular hospital. I wouldn't say that they are disingenuous but pretty much every hospital in the country it seems is one of the"top 100" it all depends on the criteria which can be selected to suit whatever agenda is desired. for instance a hospital that does great with mortality may not treat many sick patients while one that treats lots of people that that are about to die look terrible even though it may be a far better hospital.

I agree, anyone can come up with a rating that makes Health System X or Hospital Y in the "Top 100."

Also, I get the "system" vs. "hospital" thing, it's just the headline pasted as it reads (hospital [sic]).

Anyway, two differences in this ranking caused me to actually be impressed and post:

1) This is a top 10 rating, not a top 100 rating

2) Thompson Reuters uses complication rates, patient safety, readmission rates and mortality rates to generate rankings, in an attempt to balance out exactly what you posted about (i.e. "nobody dies here!!! ... because we only treat the sniffles...")

So I'd consider this pretty impressive.

[jas49503]

I agree, anyone can come up with a rating that makes Health System X or Hospital Y in the "Top 100."

Also, I get the "system" vs. "hospital" thing, it's just the headline pasted as it reads (hospital [sic]).

Anyway, two differences in this ranking caused me to actually be impressed and post:

1) This is a top 10 rating, not a top 100 rating

2) Thompson Reuters uses complication rates, patient safety, readmission rates and mortality rates to generate rankings, in an attempt to balance out exactly what you posted about (i.e. "nobody dies here!!! ... because we only treat the sniffles...")

So I'd consider this pretty impressive.

I agree that it's a good thing, it does bring some recognition to tbe work that they've done and, I think that spectrum overall has done a pretty good job. I still think what they've used to measure success doesn't necessarily capture quality. the four things that you listed can all be improved by limiting your exposure to the sickest patients. that being said, spectrum has butterworth as one of spectrums hospitals is the tertiary care center for west michigan so it's not like they are a collection of boutique hospitals.