Missing from Thomson Reuters' top 10 list of U.S. health care systems: Southeast Michigan

Posted on Tue, May 31, 2011 : 10:59 a.m.

Missing from Thomson Reuters' top 10 list of U.S. health care systems: Southeast Michigan

By Nathan Bomey

The Ann Arbor-based health care division of information services firm Thomson Reuters today issued a report listing the "top 10 U.S. health systems," but notably missing are the major health care systems in its own backyard.

The University of Michigan Health System? St. Joseph Mercy Health System? Henry Ford Medical System?

None made the list.

Michigan, however, was represented. Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health made the list.

It's the third year Thomson Reuters has compiled the report, which favors health care systems that "saved more lives, caused fewer medical complications, made fewer medical errors, followed recommended standards of care more closely, released patients half a day sooner on average, and scored better on patient satisfaction surveys," according to a news release.

Deep in the study, though, the criteria point out that only health systems with at least two general acute care hospitals qualify for the list. That means U-M doesn't qualify.

Specific benchmarks Thomson Reuters measured included average length of stay, one-month readmission rates and mortality rates.

"To produce consistent, strong performance across multiple hospitals, health system leaders must be providing crystal clear goals and communication as well as the means for staff to execute effectively," said Jean Chenoweth, Thomson Reuters' senior vice president for performance improvement, in a statement. "These systems are positioned to continue performing well as we move further into the era of healthcare reform."

Here are Thomson Reuters' Top 10 U.S. health care systems operating at least two hospitals:

Advocate Health Care — Oak Brook, Il.
Cape Cod Healthcare — Hyannis, Mass.
CareGroup Healthcare System — Boston
Kettering Health Network — Dayton, Ohio
Maury Regional Healthcare System — Columbia, Tenn.
Mayo Foundation — Rochester, Minn.
NorthShore University HealthSystem — Evanston, Il.
OhioHealth — Columbus, Ohio
Partners Healthcare — Boston
Spectrum Health — Grand Rapids

Thomson Reuters is the second largest private sector employer in Washtenaw County. The company's health care business employs between 800 and 900 workers at the former 777 building on Eisenhower Parkway. The company's tax and accounting software business employs between 900 and 1,000 people at its division in Dexter.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.

Comments

Jeremy Engdahl-Johnson

Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 2:46 a.m.

Medical errors research in latest Health Affairs. Society of Actuaries study indicates more than 2 million patient injuries each year. <a href="http://www.healthcaretownhall.com/?p=3809" rel='nofollow'>http://www.healthcaretownhall.com/?p=3809</a>

Jeremy Engdahl-Johnson

Wed, Jun 1, 2011 : 5:02 p.m.

Maxwell

Wed, Jun 1, 2011 : 2:55 a.m.

Welcome to the rustbelt Mr & Ms Ann Arbor...

perfectly lubricated weather vane

Wed, Jun 1, 2011 : 12:38 a.m.

From the link the AnnArbor.com blogger provided: "The study evaluated U.S. health systems with two or more short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of patients. Researchers used public data from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) dataset and the CMS Hospital Compare datasets. The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals program has analyzed and reported on the performance of hospitals since 1993." <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/idUS137489+31-May-2011+HUG20110531" rel='nofollow'>http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/idUS137489+31-May-2011+HUG20110531</a>

talker

Tue, May 31, 2011 : 11:35 p.m.

I'm trying to figure out commonalities among the medical systems listed. Are they for profit as opposed to nonprofit agencies? I considered that, but am symied by NorthShore University Health System in Evanston, which I believe includes Highland Park Hospital as well as Evanston Hospital. Previously, Evanston Hospital was affiliated with Northwestern University for decades. I think it's now affiliated with the U. of Chicago, but that still doesn't answer the question of why these systems are on the list. Would U. of M. be included if there were U. of M. Hospitals in Florida and Arizona, as there are Mayo Clinic facilities in those places. Cleveland Clinic isn't on the list either. I don't know the criteria, but I do know that in some areas, winning top billing often results from emphasis on voting. I have a relative in another part of the country who pesters us to vote for a business in another city that we never use. How many people and businesses manipulate the results of top 10 lists and even the weekly business categories voted for in AnnArbor.com. That could answer the questions about how new restaurants that most people haven't tried won in their restaurant categories. It's unlikely the number of potential voters affected the medical center popularity contest because I don't think the general public voted and because if it was sheer numbers, U. of M. would have fared better.

sellers

Tue, May 31, 2011 : 8:08 p.m.

Don't you have to be part of their participation member group to be part of the study; or have provided the data to TR to do the analysis ? <a href="http://www.100tophospitals.com/top-health-systems/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.100tophospitals.com/top-health-systems/</a>

grye

Tue, May 31, 2011 : 4:14 p.m.

If the locals are going to cry foul, then suggest a set of criterion that will place the UofM hospitals at the top of the list. How about the best hospital adjacent to the Huron River with the largest capacity football stadium within 5 miles?

Bob Martel

Tue, May 31, 2011 : 4:29 p.m.

That would make it a tie between U of M and St Joe's unless that football stadium also had to be owned by the parent company of the aforementioned health system!

Townie

Tue, May 31, 2011 : 3:52 p.m.

Nathan - perhaps a caveat is needed here: 'Thomson Reuters, based in Toronto, Canada, is the second largest...' Medstat was started here and acquired by Thomson many years ago. The profits now head off to Canada whose GNP is rising quickly (Canada didn't abandon the regulation of their banks like we did and didn't suffer the real estate meltdown we did as a a result).

Bob Martel

Tue, May 31, 2011 : 3:43 p.m.

This points out a problem with quoting any of these "top 10" surveys. A subtle change in the criteria can affect the outcome pretty dramatically. No proper comprehensive study would rate the University of Michigan Health System or the Cleveland Clinic less favorably than Cape Cod Healthcare! However, Thompson is not some two bit outfit, I suspect that this study has some narrow purpose which is not made entirely clear in the article.

Elaine F. Owsley

Tue, May 31, 2011 : 3:38 p.m.

So the fact that UM has three hospitals - Mott, Women's, University Main, in one location doesn't add up to more than one?

Kara Gavin

Tue, May 31, 2011 : 4:43 p.m.

Correct - we have one general acute care hospital (University Hospital) and the other two are considered specialty hospitals because they treat specific populations. - Kara Gavin, U-M Health System Public Relations