A comparison of nearly 3,000 hospitals throughout Florida and across the
U.S. by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shows Parrish
Medical Center (PMC) is Central Florida’s No. 1 hospital for clinical
care, a patient’s hospital experience, and low cost.
PMC also ranked as the No. 5 independent public hospital in the U.S. and
in the top six percent of the 2,985 hospitals analyzed by CMS. This hospital
compare data is important to everyone, not only those on Medicare or Medicaid.
Among the U.S. hospitals in the compare group, PMC placed at No. 186 for
overall quality, service and low cost. In comparison, other nationally
and regionally known hospitals, such as Cleveland Clinic in Ohio placed
at No. 1,372; Florida Hospital in Orlando at No. 1,782; and, the next
highest?scoring Brevard County hospital is at No. 1,926, or 1,740 places
below Parrish Medical Center. Other Brevard hospitals scored even lower.
“This is a wonderful statement about the work PMC’s care partners
do to fulfill our hospital mission of healing experiences for everyone
all the time,” said Herman Cole, chairman of the PMC board of directors.
“We’re a public hospital in Titusville, and CMS data shows
us to be exceeding the performance of some of the best known hospitals
in America,” Cole added. “It’s the result of having
a plan that truly works.
“PMC has earned many quality awards, and for the people we serve
to have in hand the CMS analysis that puts PMC among America’s elite
hospitals is a great thing for our patients, their families, and Brevard
County.”
CMS examined hospital data through a system called value based purchasing,
a system put in place to reimburse hospitals based on quality of care
and patient experience (not the number or frequency of services) and to
put information in consumers’ hands about hospitals’ quality and cost.
The clinical measurements included surgeries and treatment for heart attack,
heart failure, pneumonia, and other conditions.
Even as PMC was earning the highest composite ratings of all Central Florida
hospitals, cost figures show PMC to be Brevard’s lowest cost hospital.
“In today’s health care world it’s important for Brevard
residents to know that PMC is not only nationally recognized for clinical
quality and for a superior patient experience, but that it is also the
county’s lowest cost hospital,” said George Mikitarian, PMC
president and chief executive officer. “High quality and a great
experience as the county’s lowest cost hospital are achievements
of which PMC’s care partners are very proud.”
Edwin Loftin, PMC’s vice president for acute care and PMC’s
chief nursing officer, noted that at the other Brevard County hospitals
the average charge for treating heart failure is $20,085; PMC’s
charge is $15,405. The average charge for pneumonia treatment is $23,906;
PMC’s charge is $16,504.
Patients’ impressions of their hospital experience were also evaluated,
Loftin said. “This information, from the Hospital Consumer Assessment
of Healthcare Providers and Systems, or HCAHPS, is critical because it
tells hospitals what patients think of the job they’re doing.”
Mikitarian said PMC in May 2013 earned national recognition for the third
time for patient safety.
“We received our third ‘A’ rating for patient safety
in the Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Report,” he said. In Florida,
just 62 hospitals received ‘A’ ratings. The Leapfrog Group
is an independent, national not for profit organization composed of leading
U.S. employers and private healthcare experts.
“We have two goals at PMC,” he said. “The first is to
never be complacent with what we’ve achieved. The second is to improve
every facet of hospital service and operations, all the time, to benefit
every patient and family member who comes into Parrish Medical Center.”
For more information about CMS’s National Hospital Quality Initiative
data that shows PMC to be one of America’s top hospitals and the
No. 1 hospital in Central Florida, please
visit the PMC website
and also visit for a video message from Herman A. Cole Jr., Col, USAF,
Ret., chairman of the PMC board of directors.