Our Accomplishments

South Carolina is one of five states that showed the greatest improvement in healthcare quality, according to a new report from the research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 2009 State Snapshots report, released July 22, 2010, is the latest annual examination of state-by-state quality data released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The report summarizes healthcare quality in three dimensions: care type care setting and clinical condition.

“What’s driving our success? In a word, collaboration,” says Thornton Kirby, president and CEO of the South Carolina Hospital Association. “There’s no greater example than the emergence of Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC). South Carolina is the only state in the nation that has all of its major research universities and six teaching hospital systems joining forces to improve the quality of health care and the results are beginning to show.”

“That’s absolutely true and we’re very proud of what’s being accomplished,” says HSSC President and CEO Dr. Jay Moskowitz. “There’s more to the story, however. South Carolina also benefits from a state hospital association that has set a new standard for work in the field of quality and safety. The entire hospital community works in partnership to seek out best practices and share them statewide, and the power of that collaborative spirit is undeniable. Working together, our goal in South Carolina is to deliver the right care to each patient, every time.”

Areas in which South Carolina scored particularly high for 2009 and showed improvement over the baseline year (which varies across measures) include Hospital Care (South Carolina scored “Strong”), Heart Disease Care (“Strong”) and Home Healthcare (“Very Strong”).  Within the Hospital Care category, South Carolina ranked at or above the all-state average in 27 of 31 quality dimensions. This category measured dimensions such as the percentage of hospital patients who received appropriately timed antibiotics and the percentage of hospital patients with heart failure who were given complete written discharge instructions.

Within the Heart Disease Care category, South Carolina ranked at or above the all-state average in nine of 11 quality dimensions. This category measured dimensions such as the percentage of adults who have had their cholesterol checked during the previous five years and adult admissions for congestive heart failure per 100,000 population. Within the Home Healthcare category, South Carolina ranked at or above the all-state average in all 10 quality dimensions. This category measured dimensions such as the percentages of home health care patients who get better on various mobility measures.

For the past three years, the South Carolina Hospital Association and HSSC have joined together to make patient safety and quality healthcare a priority. Both CEOs attribute the state’s success to their organizations’ alignment and commitment to improved patient care. Besides South Carolina, other states that showed the greatest improvement were Maine, Maryland, Wyoming ,and the District of Columbia. The five states showing the lowest improvements were North Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, Nebraska, and Washington State. State-level information used to create the State Snapshots is based on data collected for the 2009 National Healthcare Quality Report.