As your health care resource, it is important for us to inform you about data related to quality hospital and health and rehabilitation care. Today, there are more ways than ever to measure and report on the quality of the medical care and customer service our patients receive, and we have provided the quality indicators we track here to help you make informed decisions. This information is updated annually.
We acknowledge that we must work together and we appreciate your feedback as an informed patient. Our passion for excellence is our commitment to you — our family, our friends and our neighbors. You deserve the best health care we can give you.
Heart Attack Response at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital
Centra has been nationally recognized for its achievements in heart attack care, and we are proud to have developed the first acute heart attack center in the region. We know that with a heart attack, time is heart muscle, and we have been working to improve our times. We are a national leader in heart attack treatment, and this has clearly enhanced patient care and patient outcomes, particularly as it relates to complication rates and readmissions.
We are always seeking ways to improve. Currently, we are working with regional emergency responders in the field by helping supply them with 12-lead defibrillators with pre-hospital 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG) capabilities.Vital information from emergency crews in the field through pre-hospital 12-lead electrocardiograms (EKGs) has shortened the time it takes to initiate interventional therapies by as much as 30 minutes at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital. The hospital’s emergency and cardiology team already takes heart attack patients from the doors of the emergency department to successful balloon angioplasty faster than the majority of hospitals in the country. A donation from the Stroobants Cardiology Research Fund added 11 more defibrillators in the field, increasing the number to 133.
Centra Stroobants Heart Center
Centra Stroobants Heart Center ranks among the national leaders in sending the right patients to the cardiac catheterization laboratory, and has a lower incidence of vascular complications than similar centers. We know this is a direct result of the expertise of family practitioners and other referring physicians in identifying patients for further testing. This is also a credit to the broad range of noninvasive heart testing available in our region, and the strong coordination of services between referring physicians, diagnostic testing and our catheterization laboratory.
Centra is pleased to rank clearly well above the state average in Virginia and among the nation’s leaders for all of these clinical indicators for heart failure treatment. Government and regulatory agencies place a high priority on these indicators in heart failure care.
While our mortality rate is not statistically different than the national rate, it is clearly well below the top hospitals in the country.
Centra Stroobants Heart Center receives highest quality rating
Centra Stroobants Heart Center continues to earn ranking among the nation’s hospitals for cardiac surgery. For the second year in a row, Centra has earned The Society of Thoracic Surgeon’s three-star rating — it’s highest rating for quality in cardiac surgery.
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons produce a national registry that compares cardiovascular programs throughout the country. We are honored to have achieved the highest rating for every year since the rating began. However, although Centra ranks among the top 12 percent of cardiovascular surgery programs in the country, we continue to work to improve all clinical indicators in this important program.
In addition, as an added prevention of complications after surgery, physicians at Centra order medications after surgery to prevent heart attack, stroke and blood clots.
The Joint Commission's national Certificate of Distinction for Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center
Centra has earned The Joint Commission's national Certificate of Distinction for Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center. Centra is proud to be recognized as meeting rigorous standards for performing endovascular thrombectomy and providing post-procedural care.
Acute Rehabilitation Center at Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital
Patients requiring intensive and comprehensive daily rehabilitation turn to the Acute Rehabilitation Center at Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital. In doing so, when compared to the national average, they are statistically more likely to return to their homes faster and less likely to be re-hospitalized because of medical complications.
The Acute Rehabilitation Center actively participates in continuous quality improvement and monitors its success against regional and national rehabilitation programs. The staff’s efforts to bring lengths of stay and length of stay efficiencies closer to the national average have resulted in many improved outcomes. Acute rehab’s FIM improvement, length of stay and daily improvement in activities of daily living have improved significantly over the first quarter.
The center continues its efforts to decrease length of stays while maintaining its success in restoring patients’ abilities to return to their homes and communities.
Centra Home Health
Centra Home Health has received numerous quality awards, including the prestigious OCS Elite Status award, a national ranking based on high quality care, improvement in patient outcomes and financially sound business practices.
Virginia’s Home Health Association also has honored Centra Home Health with the state Quality Award — a tribute to Home Health’s consistently high patient outcomes in health and functional status.
The goal of Centra Home Health is to keep patients at home and reduce hospitalizations by providing education and monitoring overall health status by its multidisciplinary, professional staff. The Centra Home Health staff of highly qualified and caring nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, a social worker and personal care aides ranks in the top 5 percent in the nation in keeping patients at home and out of the hospital.
Anthem's Quality-in-sights: Hospital Incentive Program (QHIP)
Children’s asthma is one of the most common conditions seen in our hospitals, schools and locally. While several factors influence asthma's development, none are absolute. We know the role of environmental factors such as allergens or exposure to smoking can trigger an asthma attack. At Centra, we are proactive in treating children with asthma.
Centra participates in Anthem’s Quality-In-Sights: Hospital Incentive Program (QHIP) program, and once a child is hospitalized with wheezing or asthma, an individualized program is developed that includes maintenance and preventive medication, and identifies asthma triggers the child is susceptible to such as cigarette smoke, colds or changes in weather. The physician and care delivery team collaborate during the child's hospitalization to complete a Written Home Management Asthma Action Plan.
Medical Device Infection Prevention
As a nationally recognized hospital system for quality, Centra is committed to continually working to prevent health care-related infections. While we recognized that not all infections are avoidable, we are diligently following best practices and the latest prevention recommendations from national organizations.
Currently we are using evidence-based practices and measures to further reduce medical device infections such as those associated with urinary catheters and intravenous lines. These infections are challenges for hospitals across the country and we are collaborating to find new solutions.
Please see information about what we are doing to reduce surgical site infections under the Surgery Care section.
Low Mortality Rate
Centra tracks mortality data as do other hospitals across the country. This data is compared expected mortality data from a national decision support source, Thomson Reuters. Expected mortality is a complex mathematical model, which predicts the mortality of patients based on severity of patient illness. Centra strives to obtain a mortality rate less the calculated expected mortality rate.
Nursing
Centra nurses make patient care their highest priority, providing expert, compassionate care around the clock. Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital and Centra Lynchburg General Hospital are among only 298 hospitals in the country to be recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet status—the national gold standard for nursing excellence. Centra hospitals are among those that statistically outperform non-Magnet organizations, delivering better patient outcomes, shorter lengths of stay, lower mortality rates and increased patient satisfaction.
Nursing’s many awards include the Beacon Award for Excellence in Critical Care to Centra’s Intermediate Care Unit, Cardiovascular Recovery Unit and Medical Intensive Care Unit for high quality standards, exceptional care of patients and their families and healthy work environments. The Medical Intensive Care Unit received the George Mason University Improvement of the Year Award for Delirium Reduction in ICU patients. The medical, surgical, neurological and Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital intensive care units were awarded two VHA Leadership Awards: one for reduction of blood stream infections and one for the reduction of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
As Magnet-designated hospitals, the quality of our nursing care is measured by nurse sensitive indicators, which reflect patient outcomes as a direct result of nursing care. These include falls/injuries, rates of central line (I.V.) associated blood stream infections, rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia, medication errors and pressure ulcers.
By incorporating evidenced-based practices in nursing care, Centra has reduced falls through the use of technology such as bed and seat check alarms, reduced ventilator-associated pneumonia through consistency in the use of best practices, lessened medication errors through technology such as bar coding that makes medication administration processes safer, and employed hourly rounding to manage pain and reduce pressure ulcers (bedsores). Centra is above the national average in stopping central line associated blood stream infections, and our greatest opportunity lies in the improvement of catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
Summit Award, Virginia Baptist Hospital
Throughout its history, Centra has differentiated itself from other hospitals in the country through its commitment to excellent care and service. We are proud that Virginia Baptist Hospital has earned Press Ganey’s prestigious Summit Award for attaining the highest patient satisfaction ranking for three consecutive years. We also are pleased with our rankings included in this report. We value patient feedback, and we are continually working to improve our service to our patients and their families.
Pneumonia Care
Centra follows nationally-recognized hospital guidelines for pneumonia care, which include:
Timely diagnosis to ensure patients receive the correct antibiotic within six hours of hospital arrival
Screening all patients for pneumococcal and influenza vaccination eligibility. Those who are eligible are provided the vaccines before leaving the hospital.
Assessing all patients for smoking cessation needs and providing those identified with counseling and written information for assistance in quitting.
Infection Prevention
Surgical site infections are a concern in hospitals across the country, and in Centra hospitals as well. That’s why we have taken a number of steps to reduce the occurrence of infections. For example, we are ensuring that patients undergoing surgery receive the right preventive antibiotic at the right time. All our patients receive an antiseptic body wash to use prior to leaving home for their surgery. We know this will reduce the number of germs commonly carried on the skin. In the past, we shaved the surgical sites of our patients’ skin before surgery.
Today, armed with best practice evidence, we use electric clippers to ensure that the skin is not nicked, which could lead to infection. For our heart patients, we make sure that their blood sugar or glucose levels are within normal limits following surgery. These are a few examples of the steps we have taken to reduce infections, and we are always looking for other means.
