Eighty-seven percent of patients recently discharged from Parkwest Medical Center said they would recommend the hospital to a family member or friend—a patient satisfaction level 19 percentage points higher than the national average. Like other hospitals in this case study series, Parkwest has focused on hiring and supporting staff who subscribe to its vision of providing excellent patient care and sharing responsibility for doing so. The hospital’s goals for quality care and patient satisfaction are spread through the Leadership Evaluation Module, through which the performance goals and standards for administrators, managers, and staff are aligned and managers are held responsible for the performance of the staff who report to them. Performance-based rewards and recognition help to reinforce the standards.
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.