St. John’s Regional Health Center (St. John's) has very low readmission rates among patients with heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia—the three conditions for which hospitals report readmission rates to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Its rates are better than the top 10 percent of hospitals reporting.

St. John's, like other hospitals profiled in this case study series, did not set out deliberately to reduce readmission rates. Rather, the hospital has had a longterm commitment to establishing and adhering to care standards to deliver optimal care. Staff follow evidence-based practices, educate patients about their conditions during their stay and after discharge, provide coordinated care, and manage chronic diseases by working with providers in the hospital and community.

Read the full case study.

This study was based on publicly available information and self-reported data provided by the case study institution(s). The aim of Commonwealth Fund–sponsored case studies of this type is to identify institutions that have achieved results indicating high performance in a particular area of interest, 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 institutions' experience that will be helpful in their own efforts to become high performers. Even the best-performing organizations may fall short in some areas or make mistakes—emphasizing the need for systematic approaches to improve quality and prevent harm to patients and staff. The Commonwealth Fund is not an accreditor of health care organizations or systems, and the inclusion of an institution in the Fund's case study series is not an endorsement by the Fund for receipt of health care from the institution.