Overview

Since its inception in 2002, Oklahoma Heart Hospital, a for-profit hospital in Oklahoma City, Okla., has consistently demonstrated high adherence to process-of-care or "core" measures and high patient satisfaction. Reinforced by positive financial performance, hospital leaders are dedicated to pursuing and maintaining optimal quality and patient service. Key strategies behind their excellent scores in core measure standards include: physician leaders' commitment to quality; physician offices housed within the hospital, providing greater access to nurses and patients; flat organizational structure that allows quick implementation of operational changes; highly experienced nurses and high nurse-to-patient ratios; standardization of care processes through computerized "care sets"; electronic tools (e.g., electronic medical records, computerized physician order entry) that provide immediate access to patients' medical information and feedback about appropriate orders, thereby reducing errors; continuous examination of existing practices and introduction of new practices; and an "e-Bucket" tool for communicating staff concerns and addressing them quickly.

Read the complete case study.

This study was based on publicly available information and self-reported data provided by the case study institution(s). The aim of Commonwealth Fund–sponsored case studies of this type is to identify institutions that have achieved results indicating high performance in a particular area of interest, have undertaken innovations designed to reach higher performance, or exemplify attributes that can foster high performance. The studies are intended to enable other institutions to draw lessons from the studied institutions' experience that will be helpful in their own efforts to become high performers. Even the best-performing organizations may fall short in some areas or make mistakes—emphasizing the need for systematic approaches to improve quality and prevent harm to patients and staff. The Commonwealth Fund is not an accreditor of health care organizations or systems, and the inclusion of an institution in the Fund's case study series is not an endorsement by the Fund for receipt of health care from the institution.