by James C. Sherlock
Becker’s Hospital review reports:
“Lynchburg, Va.-based Centra Health is the most cost-efficient health system in the U.S., according to a ranking from the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank.”
Also on the list of the top 20 is Inova Health of Falls Church at number 5. No surprise there.
So what is cost-efficiency and how is it measured by Lown Institute?
The cost efficiency metric is a ratio of a health system’s mortality rates compared to its Medicare costs. Health systems with the lowest mortality and the lowest costs received the best scores in cost efficiency. For mortality, the Lown Institute used risk-standardized 30- and 90-day mortality for Medicare patients hospitalized between 2016 and 2018. For cost, the organization used 30- and 90-day total risk-standardized Medicare payments for patients hospitalized in 2016 to 2018.
Cedars-Sinai, Johns-Hopkins, Mayo, Houston Methodist, Beth Israel, and New York Presbyterian are among the top names. Cone Health in Greensboro, a former Sentara takeover target, is number 19 on the list.
For Centra to lead that list is a major accomplishment. People in the Lynchburg area should be thankful.
