Sacred Heart Hospitals Rank in Florida’s Top 5 for Patient Engagement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          Contact: Mike Burke

December 31, 2014                                                                (850) 416-1153

Sacred Heart Hospitals Rank in Florida’s Top 5 for Patient Engagement

PENSACOLA, Fla. (Dec. 31, 2014) – A new hospital study that examined patient engagement ranked Sacred Heart Health System’s three hospitals among the five best in the State of Florida.

Becker’s Hospital Review worked with Axial Exchange to develop the 2014 Hospital Patient Engagement Rankings based on four factors: Readmission rates, patient satisfaction, patient education and community social media engagement.

Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach was ranked No. 1 in the state of Florida and No. 23 in the nation for patient engagement. Sacred Heart Hospital Pensacola and Sacred Heart Hospital on the Gulf in Port St. Joe are ranked No. 3 and No. 5 out of a total of 160 Florida hospitals included in the study.

Becker’s Hospital Review defines patient engagement as the process by which patients become invested in their own health. Health Systems that are ranked highly on the list:

• Provide patients with information and tools that support self care
• Have low 30-day readmission rates
• Have high patient-satisfaction (HCAHPS) scores
• Enable patients to have rich online interactions with the health system both through patient portals and through social media.

The rankings were calculated by evaluating four measurements of patient engagement:

• Readmission rates (25%) – Roughly one quarter of Medicare expenditures for inpatient care are for readmissions.*

• Patient satisfaction (25%) - The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey (HCAHPS) was utilized as a measure of patients' perspectives on hospital care.

• Patient education and self care tools (25%) – Health systems were highly ranked for offering electronic access to patient health records and providing resources needed for day-to-day management of disease.

• Social media engagement (25%) – Health systems were ranked highly for social media presence engaging a relatively large audience that expresses positive sentiment towards the health system.

For more information on the rankings, visit online axialexchange.com/engagement.

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