Firelands gets top ratings from patients

SANDUSKY — Firelands Regional Medical Center recently received top ratings in patient experience, with scores over the 90th percentile. "I am beyond proud of the caretakers here at Firelands for this outstanding achievement," said Jeremy Normington-Slay, CEO of the hospital. "There are very few, if any, hospitals in the state of Ohio who have recently achieved high ratings like this in patient experience." Normington-Slay went on to say, "If we can begin with the patient experience, and provide excellent healthcare, we will fulfill our mission, thereby improving the lives that we serve." The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) defines Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) as a "29-item instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients' perceptions of their hospital experience." Patient experience, among the many different quality metrics, is measured at hospitals around the country in order to set national standards of patient care. According to Press Ganey, a healthcare experience analytics company, Firelands reached the 96th percentile in February 2022, the 93rd percentile in January 2022, and an average of the 82nd percentile throughout the calendar year in 2021. These ratings were collected amidst some of the busiest days of the pandemic, making for quite an achievement on the part of Firelands team members, especially those on the front lines. "When looking at the comparative benchmarks, we can see that the rest of the nation's averages have declined in performance," explained Firelands Vice President of Quality and Patient Satisfaction Patricia Martin. Martin went on, "Firelands has maintained performance and done better in a number of categories even within the environment of the most intense, sustained surge of the COVID-19 pandemic we've seen thus far." In early January, Firelands had to adjust operations to accommodate for a surge in cases and community spread of COVID-19. "Despite the challenges, our care team stepped up to the plate, and served each patient with a positive attitude, and commitment to their work," said Martin. The patient experience metrics among Firelands Physician Group practices have also been high. Medical practice was in the 95th percentile in February 2022, the 91st percentile in January 2022, and an average of the 94th percentile throughout the calendar year in 2021. "Our medical group has continued to serve our patients and consistently delivers a positive experience," said Firelands Physician Group Director of Quality Katherine Smith. Firelands will be celebrating these achievements among its associates and current patients with a cookie day.