South Fulton Medical Center has been named to the Georgia Hospital Association’s (GHA) Partnership for Health and Accountability (PHA) Quality Honor Roll. South Fulton Medical Center is one of 56 hospitals in Georgia to be placed in the Presidential category, one of the highest on the list. The honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), which administers the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The data was collected from July 2009 to June 2010.

“This is a great accomplishment for South Fulton Medical Center,” said Joseph Parker, president of GHA. “This recognition further underscores the commitment of the South Fulton Medical Center staff to ensuring that every patient receives the best, most effective health care possible.

All acute care hospitals are required to submit care data to CMS. This data details how well a hospital’s caregivers adhere to a list of eight Appropriate Care Measures (ACM), which are the clinical processes of care that are known to be the most effective methods of treatment for patients who have suffered heart attacks, heart failure or pneumonia. The ACM is a composite measure that determines whether or not a patient received the right care at the right time.

For instance, a recommended treatment to help prevent a heart attack is to take aspirin either before or upon arrival at the hospital, as well as at discharge. A suggested treatment for pneumonia is to administer an antibiotic within four hours of a patient’s arrival. A hospital’s adherence to these recommended clinical practices usually leads to better outcomes.

“It is our mission to ensure that each of our patients receives the right care at the right time and this recognition validates this,” said James Clements, chief executive officer of South Fulton Medical Center. “This honor is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our staff who are constantly working to make excellent care even better.”

About PHA

The Partnership for Health and Accountability, formed in January 2000 and sponsored by the Georgia Hospital Association, is a unique statewide collaborative that brings together health care providers with community agencies and individuals to achieve healthy communities. PHA includes representation from groups like hospitals, physicians, state health officials, legislators and businesses