Thibodaux Regional Medical Center's Pursuit of Excellence Garners the 2008 Press Ganey Summit Award
(1/5/2009)

Thibodaux Regional Medical Center (Thibodaux, LA) has yet another feather to add to its cap, with its recent win of the prestigious Summit Award from Press Ganey, a consulting firm which specializes in health care performance measurement and improvement solutions. This is the second time Thibodaux has won since the award's inception in 2006, to recognize health care organizations ranking in the 95th percentile or above in the Press Ganey database for a minimum of three consecutive years.

"This award is an indicator of how well our team has executed our vision of achieving excellence, and it's also a motivator for us to sustain the highest level of patient satisfaction possible," says Greg Stock, CEO at the 185-bed acute care facility. "We take great pride in the standards we have put in place to achieve this kind of excellence. For a hospital to win the Summit Award for a second time demonstrates the quality of care a hospital provides—with a staff that knows not only how to care for a patient's clinical needs but also how to take care of the patient's emotional needs."

Thibodaux is one of over 7,000 health care organizations—nearly 40 percent of U.S. hospitals—to partner with Press Ganey to measure and improve its quality of care. Press Ganey's databases are the largest in the industry, and allow facilities nationwide to benchmark their results against peer organizations.

Each year, the organization names a select group of its clients as recipients of one of its three awards. The Summit Award is recognized as the newest and most challenging of those offered, as recipients set themselves apart from the competition by demonstrating dedication to improvement and sustaining excellence in both quality of care, and employee and physician satisfaction.

"By using benchmarks, we are able to see how well we are performing, and know what the patients are saying and feeling about us. Press Ganey allows us to put our data into play and actually receive gains from it," says Stock. "This is one of the reasons why we've been able to stay on top, and remain the only hospital in Louisiana which has achieved this award.

"We take great pride in our accomplishments, commitment, sacrifice, and our ability to 'walk the walk.' We are pursuing our dream of providing excellent health care to our region."

Stock also believes that having the right I.T. tools was instrumental for Thibodaux to become a better health care facility. "MEDITECH has been a tremendous help for us," he says. "To be able to see and read data immediately, in order to make necessary improvements as quickly as possible, is a great asset for our organization. MEDITECH is a very supportive company, and they have been truly responsive to our initiatives and have enabled us to move forward as efficiently as possible."

Howard Messing, COO and president of MEDITECH, says the company is extremely proud of the example Thibodaux is setting in Louisiana and across the nation. "The site continues to be a step above the benchmarks, and we're so grateful we can support their goals," he says.

This distinction is the most recent of numerous accolades received by Thibodaux during the past decade. The facility recently received the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Award, as well as the Louisiana Hospital Quality Award - Silver Level in 2007, and the Louisiana Performance Excellence (Malcolm Baldrige) Award in 2002.

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