Overview

This case study first appeared in the report Gaston Memorial Hospital: Driving Quality Improvement with Data, Guidelines, and Real-Time Feedback by Jack Meyer, Ph.D.

At Gaston Memorial Hospital, a not-for-profit facility in Gastonia, N.C., adherence to evidence-based practice guidelines, multidisciplinary committees engaged in root-cause analysis, and strong leadership combined to produce near-perfect compliance with evidence-based process-of-care ("core") measures in four clinical areas. Hospital leaders also stressed the importance of working closely with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), participating in a demonstration program led by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and identifying physician champions in reducing the variance in practice patterns and adhering to best practices.

Disclaimer

The case study or studies included in this Fund report were based on publicly availableinformation and self-reported data provided by the case study institution(s). The aim of Fund-sponsored case studies of this type is to identify institutions that have achieved results indicating high performance in a particular area, 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 organizations' experiences in ways that may aid their own efforts to become high performers. The Commonwealth Fund is not an accreditor of health care organizations or systems, and the inclusion of an institution in the Fund's case studies series is not an endorsement by the Fund for receipt of health care from the institution.