Quality Measures

www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov

www.gha.org/pha

Echocardiography Accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL)

NGMC’s Echocardiography Lab is accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL). The accreditation process is rigorous and voluntary. Accreditation status signifies that the facility has been reviewed by an independent agency which recognizes the laboratory’s commitment to quality testing for the diagnosis of heart disease. Accredited labs are recognized by ICAEL for their commitment to high quality patient care and provision of quality diagnostic testing.

NGMC Receives High Quality Index Score From GHA

Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) recently received a 99 out of possible 100 score on the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Relative Quality Index for patients treated during 2005. The PHA developed the statewide Hospital Relative Quality Index to combine a variety of elements into one easy to understand value. Included in the Index are the main, basic elements of patient care for hospitals such as processes (how care is delivered in the hospital), outcomes (what are the results of the care in the hospital) and patient safety (keeping patients safe from harm while in the hospital), as recommended by a team of Georgia clinicians and healthcare quality professionals.

Cardiac Services

NGMC Receives Outstanding Cardiac Care Results from the Society of Thoracic Surgery and the American College of Cardiology

Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) recently received the complete clinical data for 2004 for its open heart surgery and cardiac intervention programs, and the results remain above national and regional averages for similar programs. “To summarize the data in the simplest of terms, we are experiencing better patient outcomes in mortality, length of stay and peri-operative and post-operative complications as compared to other programs,” says Tom Edwards, director of Cardiac Services at NGMC. “These results are despite the fact that many of the risk factors of our cardiac surgical and intervention patients are greater, including a higher incidence of diabetics and smokers, than the patients of other programs.”