Aspirus was recognized this week by IBM Watson Health in its 15 Top Health Systems annual study identifying the top-performing health systems in the country based on overall organizational performance.

Formerly known as the Truven Health Analytics® 15 Top Health Systems, this study spotlights the best-performing health systems in the nation according to a balanced scorecard of measures based on publicly available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction data. It has been conducted annually since 2008.

“The Aspirus family has been working together tirelessly to ensure that people from Ontonagon, Michigan, to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, have access to excellent local health services and world-class specialty care,” said Aspirus President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Heywood. “This award confirms that we’ve been focusing on the right things and making great progress.”

IBM Watson Health’s 15 Top Health Systems study evaluates health system performance across nine clinical and operational performance benchmarks: risk-adjusted inpatient mortality, risk-adjusted complications, mean healthcare-associated infection, mean 30-day risk-adjusted mortality rate, mean 30-day risk-adjusted readmission rate, severity-adjusted length of stay, mean emergency department throughput, Medicare spend per beneficiary index and HCAHPS patient satisfaction score.

According to IBM Watson Health, if all Medicare inpatients were similarly situated and received the same level of care as those treated in award-winning facilities:

More than 60,000 additional lives could be saved.
More than 31,000 additional patients could be complication-free.
Healthcare-associated infections would be reduced by 16 percent.
Patients would spend 40 minutes less in hospital emergency rooms per visit.
“We care so much about the health of every community Aspirus serves,” Heywood said. “This information shows the human impact of our work, and I find that to be both gratifying and humbling.”

This year’s 15 Top Health Systems outperformed non-winning peer group health systems in the following key measures:

· Survival Rates: Top 15 Health Systems had 14.6 percent fewer deaths.

· Complications and Infections: Patients experienced 17.3 percent fewer complications and 16.2 percent fewer healthcare-associated infections.

· Length of Stay: Patients’ median severity-adjusted length of stay was nearly one half-day shorter.

· Emergency Department Wait Times: Median patient wait times were 40 minutes shorter.

· Lower Cost: Combined in-hospital and post-discharge costs were 5.6 percent lower per episode.

· Higher Patient Satisfaction: Overall hospital experience was rated 2.3 percent higher.

To conduct the 15 Top Health Systems study, IBM Watson Health researchers evaluated 338 health systems and 2,422 health system member hospitals. All research was based on the following public data sets: Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) data, and Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website. Health systems do not apply for awards, and winners do not pay to market this honor. For more information, visit www.100tophospitals.com.