Western Baptist earns Top Improvement status in Medicare, Premier healthcare alliance project

Western Baptist earned a Top Improvement award in a CMS, Premier healthcare alliance value-based purchasing (VBP) project that rewards hospital for delivering high quality care in five clinical areas.

The hospital received the Top Improvement and Attainment Performance awards in the clinical area of Coronary Arterial Bypass Graft. Hospitals must achieve attainment and be among the top 20 percent of hospitals with the largest quality improvements to receive the Top Improvement award.

Western also received Attainment Performance awards in the clinical area of acute myocardial infarction; heart failure; hip and knee replacement; and pneumonia. The award is given to the top 50 percent of participating hospitals that attain or exceed medical level performance.

The awards are based on fourth-years results from the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (HQID) project. Because of its success, Western will receive a bonus payment of more than $63,000 from CMS, which awarded incentive payments of approximately $12 million to 225 hospitals.