Keck Hospital of USC earned five stars, the highest rating possible, on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2023 quality star rating report.
Only approximately 16% of hospitals across the country, 483 out of 3,076, received five stars out of a one-to-five-star rating system.
This prestigious designation demonstrates our continuing commitment to patient safety and to best patient outcomes, and is the result of the hard work of every physician, nurse and staff member at the hospital."
Stephanie Hall, MD, MHA, chief medical officer of Keck Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital
A hospital's star rating is based on how well it performs across five different areas of quality measures:
- Readmission -; returns to the hospital following a hospitalization.
- Mortality -; death rates of patients in the 30 days following a hospitalization.
- Safety of care -; potentially preventable injury and complications due to care provided during a hospitalization.
- Timely and effective care.
- Patient experience -; such as how effectively physicians and nurses communicate to the patient and if a patient would recommend the hospital to others.
"A five-star rating means that Keck Hospital outperforms the national average in readmission, mortality and complication rates as well as timely and effective care, which is a tremendous validation of our commitment to quality care," said Marty Sargeant, MBA, CEO of Keck Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital. "We're also proud to have received five stars in the patient experience category, which reflects that more than 90% of our patients are likely to recommend our hospital to others."
This quality designation is one of many recent national safety and quality recognitions the hospital has received, including earning a five-star ranking for excellence by Vizient, Inc., a leading health care performance improvement company. Keck Medicine of USC also recently underscored its commitment to safety by hiring a health system chief quality officer.
The CMS rating system was launched in 2016 to help patients and caregivers make informed decisions when selecting a hospital. Hospitals report quality data to the CMS through multiple reporting programs, and the data is then reviewed and standardized to calculate hospital star rankings.
Air pollution increases emergency department visits