Lake Pointe Medical Center was named to the 2003 list of the 100 Top Hospitals for small community hospitals in the nation according to Solucient, one of the major sources of healthcare business intelligence.  The 100 Top Hospitals award is based on three measures of hospital performance: clinical excellence, operating efficiency and financial health, and responsiveness to the community. This is the third time that Lake Pointe Medical Center has been recognized with this honor.

According to John Harris, Chief Executive Officer at Lake Pointe Medical Center, “It is a great honor to receive this distinguished award, and we are particularly proud of the fact that this is the third time Lake Pointe Medical Center has been recognized as a Top 100 Hospital.  This is truly a reflection of the combined team commitment to health care excellence by our medical staff, employees, board, and management team, and it helps demonstrate that you don’t have to be a large institution to provide exemplary healthcare services.” 

Lake Pointe Medical Center is a 97-bed full service acute care facility located in Rowlett, Texas, which is in the northeast quadrant of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and one of the fastest growing areas in the United States.  The Hospital has been serving the healthcare needs of the residents of Rowlett, Rockwall and the surrounding communities since 1987.  The Hospital has a medical staff of over 250 physicians, and provides a broad spectrum of medical and surgical services, including intensive care services, obstetrics, day surgery, skilled nursing care, outpatient diagnostic services and emergency services.  Lake Pointe Medical Center is small enough to offer high touch, personalized care, yet large enough to provide high technology services.  The hospital is in the midst of a major expansion of services and facilities, which includes a new Emergency Department, a new Cardiac Catheterization Lab, enhanced Labor and Delivery services with Neonatal Level II Nursery services, a Sleep Center and an enhanced Surgery Department.

“The citizens of Rockwall County and surrounding areas are fortunate to have the quality of medical services that are delivered by Lake Pointe Medical Center,” stated Congressman Ralph Hall (Republican/Rockwall).  “This prestigious national award reflects the dedication to high standards of all those at Lake Pointe Medical Center who have worked hard to provide outstanding healthcare in our area.”

 The 11th edition of Solucient’s 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success study appears in a special supplement to the May 24th edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.   Based on the findings of this study:  If all acute care hospitals performed at the same level as the nation’s top hospitals, it is estimated that almost 95,000 more Medicare patients could survive and an additional 77,000 patient stays could be complication free each year – at an estimated annual savings of $8.8 billion.

Among the key findings:

• Adjusted for hospice availability, winning or “benchmark” hospitals were 17 percent more likely to discharge terminally ill patients to hospice services than non-winning or “peer” hospitals.

• Benchmark hospitals had a nearly 18 percent lower mortality rate than peer hospitals, while patients at 100 Top Hospitals had 13 percent fewer complications.

• Patients at winning hospitals return to everyday life faster than those at non-winning hospitals. These patients were released nearly half a day sooner, on average, than patients at peer hospitals.

• Expenses per discharge at benchmark hospitals were 16 percent lower than peer hospitals ($4,147 benchmark vs. $4,950 peer).

• Winning hospitals pay more to attract quality staff. Salary and benefits per full-time employee were nearly 3 percent higher than peer hospitals.

• Benchmark hospitals treat more – and sicker – patients than non-winning hospitals. The median Medicare patient case mix index at winning hospitals was 22 percent higher than at peer hospitals. Benchmark hospitals also had 24 percent more admissions per bed.

• Winning hospitals use a higher percentage of special care days for their patients – 14 percent vs. 11 percent for peer hospitals.

• The cash flow to total debt ratio at benchmark hospitals was nearly 119% higher than peer hospitals.

The 11th edition of the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success study analyzed acute care hospitals nationwide using detailed empirical performance data from 2002, including publicly available MedPAR data and Medicare cost reports. Facilities recognized on the list are represented across five hospital classes:

• Major Teaching - 15 winners

• Teaching - 25 winners

• Large Community, 250+ Beds - 21 winners (due to a tie)

• Medium Community, 100 to 249 Beds - 20 winners

• Small Community, 25 to 99 Beds - 20 winners

The study scored facilities according to key measures: risk-adjusted mortality and risk adjusted complications, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, growth in percent of community served, cash flow to total debt ratio, tangible assets per adjusted discharge, and coding specificity.

More information on this study and other 100 Top Hospitals research is available at www.100tophospitals.com. Additional information about Lake Pointe Medical Center can be found at www.lakepointemedical.com.