As part of the Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals® program, IBM Watson Health announced the list of the 15 Top Health Systems in the U.S The study was based on overall organizational performance and the final selections were those hospitals having the best overall outcomes and care. By studying 337 health systems across the country and analyzing data, IBM provides a new benchmark for healthcare while emphasizing the potential benefits of hospital and healthcare consolidation.
Top-performing health systems achieve better risk-adjusted outcomes and higher patient satisfaction scores, the study found, with fewer deaths and fewer complications and infections. While providing quality care and keeping wait times shorter, hospitals were also able to keep costs per patient lower with 1.1 percent less spending on combined in-hospital and post-discharge costs per treatment.
The study also noted how overall healthcare for Medicare inpatients could improve if they were placed in facilities with the same level of care as the Top 15. Over 60,000 additional lives could be saved, more than 26,000 additional patients could be complication free, and healthcare-associated infections could be reduced by 10 percent.
“The multi-year trend toward increased healthcare consolidation has shined a spotlight on health system performance, illuminating both the challenges of coordinating care across multiple facilities and the opportunities that can come with scale,” said Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals program leader at IBM Watson Health, in a press statement. “The institutions recognized in the IBM Watson Health 15 Top Health Systems study are providing a blueprint for how to improve quality, lower costs and achieve outstanding patient satisfaction on a consistent basis.”
