Why it matters: When hospitals commit to clear quality measures and act on data, patient outcomes improve dramatically.
The big picture: U.S. News and World Report recognized 26 Intermountain Health hospitals as high performing in maternity care, a jump driven by focused effort on specific quality metrics.
By the numbers:
- 26 Intermountain Health hospitals earned high-performing status
- One hospital went from not qualifying to achieving the highest regional score in one year
- Key focus areas: reducing unnecessary cesarean sections and episiotomies, supporting breastfeeding
How it happened: Dr. Sean Esplin, senior medical director of women’s health at Intermountain Health, sat down with a struggling hospital and showed them the data.
“The CEO of the hospital stopped the meeting and looked at it and said, who’s going to own this? Who here is going to own this problem?”
That question changed everything.
What they did:
- Identified specific improvement opportunities from the data
- Got buy-in from providers, nurses, and leadership
- Owned the problem collectively
- Tracked progress consistently
The bottom line: “Every patient that we take care of is a chance for us to learn and to actually try to be better,” says Dr. Esplin. When hospitals define quality, track it, and act on it together, remarkable improvement follows.
Learn more about this recognition here.