Quality Care
Our goal is simple: To keep our patients healthy. And when they do get sick, we offer the best possible care and continually strive to improve—helping patients live happier, healthier lives.
Sutter Health named among top 15 U.S. health systems
Sutter Health and Sutter’s Valley Area were named among the top-performing health systems in the country by Truven Health Analytics™ for achieving superior performance on five measures of care quality, patient satisfaction, cost per episode of illness and operational efficiency. For its 15 Top Health Systems® study, Truven gathered data from 338 health systems and nearly 3,000 hospitals, identifying 15 large, medium and small health systems that achieved these benchmarks. Sutter Health and our Valley Area were named as two of the nation’s top five performers among large health care systems. Both the Sutter Health Valley Area—whose service region is larger than many of the country’s health systems—and the entire Sutter Health system received top five recognition. Data show hospitals in Sutter Health and the other top performing systems:
- Save more lives and have fewer patient complications
- Spend five percent less per patient episode of care
- Shorten patients’ length of stay in the hospital
- Make fewer patient safety errors
- Score 7 percent better on patient satisfaction
“We have been working very hard for many years to build the future of health care by creating an exceptional experience for our patients and their families. This study honors the commitment of our doctors, hospitals and care and support teams to make us a better organization at every level.” — Sarah Krevans, Sutter Health President and CEO
Sutter Health has improved the quality of care by reducing:
%
elective delivery before 39 weeks of pregnancy
%
the total cost of care for people at the end of life
%
hospital stays for people at the end of life
%
deaths from severe sepsis and septic shock
“I lost a son to cancer and lost my husband not long ago. So, I know what it feels like to want an extra day and not be able to have it.” — Zully Broussard
Six-patient kidney transplant chain makes history
It began with the generosity of one altruistic organ donor and concluded with six patients being given the gift of life. Twelve patients at Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) made history in 2015 through a groundbreaking six-way kidney donation transplant—the largest conducted in the CPMC Transplant Center’s 44-year existence— all thanks to Zully Broussard, an organ donor who simply wanted to help and did not have a specific recipient in mind. The rare transplant “chain” was made possible by kidney matching software that enables multiple incompatible pairs of donors and recipients to find matches. CPMC conducts 200-plus kidney transplants per year, making it one of the largest kidney transplant centers in the western United States. In 2014, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients honored CPMC as the nation’s only hospital with both kidney and liver transplant programs that have higher-than-expected adult patient survival rates; 98.4 percent of kidney patients who received their care from CPMC survived one year after transplant, compared to the expected 96.6 percent.
Sepsis training, protocols save lives
Her patient was ready to go home when he suddenly spiked a fever, recalls Nancy Dupree, R.N., a perioperative nurse at Sutter-affiliated Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. Thanks to her recent training on the deadly blood infection sepsis, Nancy knew this was a potential warning sign. She screened the patient (who tested positive) and immediately provided lifesaving medication. Sutter Health’s standardized program to rapidly identify and treat sepsis—the No. 1 killer of hospitalized patients in the U.S.—has reduced mortality from sepsis and septic shock by 33 percent across our affiliates since 2014.
Hospitals achieve lowest C-section rates in state, make care safer
In 2015, Sutter Davis Hospital achieved the lowest C-section rate in California, and Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz had the state’s seventh lowest rate among low-risk mothers. These achievements demonstrate Sutter Health’s long-held commitment to making care safer for moms and babies—including quality and safety programs to prevent early elective deliveries and reduce unnecessary C-sections. Across our network, registered nurses, certified nurse midwives and doctors educate and prepare expectant parents, and offer and encourage midwife and doula services. We also partner with moms to avoid elective induction of labor before 39 weeks, inducing labor only when medically necessary.
Robotic exoskeleton offers hope for stroke, spinal cord injuries
Imagine walking again after you’ve had a stroke, spinal cord injury or other form of lower extremity weakness. In 2015, the acute rehabilitation program at Sutter Health’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center—recognized in the top 2 percent of hospitals in the nation—began offering robotic exoskeleton therapy to a broad range of people with limited mobility due to injuries or illnesses, giving them hope for greater independence and a better quality of life. The exoskeleton aids in gait training and neuro-rehabilitation by enhancing the patient’s own motion and increasing therapists’ ability to help in rehabilitation. Exoskeleton therapy helps patients take more steps and walk more naturally. Patients also show significant improvement in overall health, mood, energy levels and engagement.
iPads connect hospice patients, clinicians after hours
It’s the middle of the night, and a hospice patient suddenly develops a symptom such as breathing problems that are alarming to the family or caregivers. Thanks to a new Hospice Video Project funded through Sutter Care at Home’s (SCAH) Giving Program, hospice patients can connect to hospice clinicians by iPad video or chat after hours. More than 50 patients and their families at Sutter Health’s Emeryville and San Mateo hospice locations were issued iPads during the 2015 pilot program, providing peace of mind to patients, families and caregivers during a time of stress and anxiety while enhancing the clinician’s ability to provide quality care to the patient.
“We felt more connected, knowing that the nurse understood what we were going through and feeling. We appreciated the eye-to-eye contact.” — daughter of former hospice patient describing Sutter’s iPad video chat.
Awards and Recognition
Sutter Health is honored to have been recognized throughout 2015 for the quality care we provide to our communities and patients throughout Northern California.