Vail Health receives accolades for quality, safety

Vail Health on Wednesday issued the following press release on recognition of its quality and safety record:

Throughout the health care system, Vail Health and its entities have recently been recognized with various accolades and accreditations pertaining to quality and safety. Vail Health was one of 429 hospitals in the nation to earn 5 stars in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 5-star rating system. Vail Health was previously a 4-star rated hospital. The rating of 3,093 hospitals across the country is determined by how well a hospital performs on an identified set of quality measures compared to other U.S. hospitals. The five areas of quality are: safety of care, readmission, patient experience, mortality, and timely and effective care.

“The move to a 5-star rating is a testament to our ongoing commitment to multidisciplinary team engagement and the use of real-time data to drive improved patient outcomes. I am greatly thankful for our entire organization’s dedication to quality care,” said Will Cook, President and CEO of Vail Health. “Combined with our continued ‘A’ Leapfrog Rating and Colorado Mountain Medical’s Urgent Care Accreditation, the CMS 5-star rating showcases the collective progress we are making in elevating health across our mountain communities.”

The CMS rating is intended to encourage consumers to discuss and make more informed decisions on how to obtain the best hospital care, provide incentives for hospitals to improve care, and emphasizes public accountability.

“One of the areas where Vail Health performs very well is our rate of readmission following hospital discharge. This speaks to our focus on the continuum of care, as readmissions are often a failure of care coordination or effective discharge planning” said Amy Lavigne, Director of Quality for Vail Health. “A low readmission rate is not only an indicator of the quality of care provided, but also significantly reduces the overall cost of care, which is another example of Vail Health’s focus on reducing healthcare costs and enhancing affordability.”

Colorado Mountain Medical, a partner of Vail Health, earned the distinction as an Accredited Urgent Care Center from the Urgent Care Association (UCA). UCA Accreditation advances an urgent care organization to the highest level of distinction in patient care through safety, quality and scope of services. It also helps urgent care centers and clinics stay in-network with select payers.  

The UCA and the College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM) also awarded Colorado Mountain Medical the Antibiotic Stewardship Commendation for demonstrating a commitment to responsible prescribing practices for antibiotics. The commendation encourages urgent care centers to become more proactive in their antibiotic stewardship efforts. Using evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and management, organizations can design and implement strategies to improve their prescribing practices, as well as educate patients on proper antibiotic use.

“While Colorado Mountain Medical has been serving this community for decades, this accreditation is proof that we are committed to raising our standard of care,” said David Kaplan, President of Colorado Mountain Medical. “Congratulations to our Urgent Care team on this tremendous achievement.”

Additionally, Vail Health was again awarded an ‘A’ in the fall 2022 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing Vail Health’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. The grade is based on a hospital’s quality and safety performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care. Vail Health has consistently maintained an ‘A’ Leapfrog Rating since fall 2020. 

Vail Health’s Family Birth Center has also received national recognition recently. 

• Vail Health Hospital was recognized as one of Money-Leapfrog’s 2022 Best Maternity Hospitals. This elite list of 259 hospitals was determined through The Leapfrog Group’s survey data of more than 2,200 hospitals across the country.
• Vail Health’s Family Birth Center was named to the Immunize.org’s Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll for their exceptional efforts to protect infants from perinatal hepatitis B transmission. The Family Birth Center’s policies, procedures and protocols help protect all newborns from hepatitis B virus infection prior to hospital discharge, and the Family Birth Center has achieved a more than 90 percent vaccination rate.