New Case Studies of High-Performing Public Hospitals
<p>Compared with other hospitals, public hospitals are generally assumed to face multiple barriers to providing high-quality care: lower revenues; sicker patients who may have infrequent contact with the health care system; and an older infrastructure, particularly related to health information technology.</p>
<p>A new case study series set out to find how some public hospitals have succeeded in providing high-quality care, in spite of such challenges. Researchers used data from The Commonwealth Fund's performance benchmarking Web site, <a href="http://www.whynotthebest.org/" target="_blank">WhyNotTheBest.org</a>, to evaluate public hospitals' performance. The cases studies are:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="/publications/case-study/2010/jul/norman-regional-health-system-city-owned-public-trust-dedicated" target="_blank">Norman Regional Health System: A City-Owned Public Trust Dedicated to Improving Performance</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/publications/case-study/2010/jul/carolinas-medical-center-demonstrating-high-quality-public-sector" target="_blank">Carolinas Medical Center: Demonstrating High Quality in the Public Sector</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/publications/case-study/2010/jul/memorial-healthcare-system-public-system-focusing-patient-and" target="_blank">Memorial Healthcare System: A Public System Focusing on Patient-and Family-Centered Care</a> </li>
</ul>
<p>Visit <a href="http://www.whynotthebest.org/" target="_blank">WhyNotTheBest.org</a> to conduct side-by-side comparisons of 4,500 hospitals nationwide, track performance over time against numerous benchmarks, and download case studies and tools to improve health care quality. <br /></p>