North Mississippi Medical Center
Improving Efficiency Through Hospital, System, and Community-Wide Practices
North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC) in Tupelo, Mississippi, was designated a Highest Value Hospital in 2008 for achieving a top efficiency score (reflecting both the quality of care and resource use) from the Leapfrog Group for coronary artery bypass graft, percutaneous coronary interventions, and pneumonia care. Leaders at NMMC believe that by focusing on serving patients, empowering staff, and improving health care quality, lower costs and growth will naturally follow.
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES
- An electronic medical record and other centralized data systems that enable community providers to access patients’ medical histories; link health outcomes with data on utilization, costs, and length of stay; and help promote patient flow.
- Through a service line management structure, each department is treated as a business unit responsible for the quality of patient care, patient satisfaction, staff productivity, and financial performance.
- NMMC looks beyond traditional cost drivers (e.g., people, equipment, and supplies) to focus on issues that have the greatest impact on cost: variation in care practices, complications, and socioeconomic and community health issues.
