About Us

CHRISTUS St. Patrick Quality Report

Credentials

• Hospital
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that evaluates and accredits more than 16,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.

JCAHO accreditation is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards. To earn and maintain accreditation, an organization must undergo an on-site survey by a JCAHO team at least every three years. For more information about JCAHO accreditation, visit their Web site, www.jcaho.org .

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals licenses hospitals in the state. P.O. Box 3767, Baton Rouge, LA 70821, 225-342-0082.

• Physician
Board certification, or the international equivalent, means that doctors have completed the amount of training that a specialty board requires. These physicians have practiced for a specified period of time and passed rigorous written and oral exams. Board certification is generally accepted as a strong indicator of a physician’s competence and experience. To learn more about physician credentials, visit the Louisiana Board of Medicine website.

• Experience
When it comes to treating a particular disease, nothing can equal experience. Studies show that physicians/hospitals that treat a high number of patients for a particular disease and perform large numbers of procedures/surgeries to treat it, have better results.

According to a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (September 17, 2002), the majority of studies find a lower patient mortality rate for a given procedure when the hospital or physician has a high volume of experience performing that procedure. So be sure to ask health care providers how much care they provide and how much experience they have with the procedure or service you are researching.

A number of independent organizations in the country make it their job to assess and rate quality in health care. To learn how CHRISTUS St. Patrick measures up for experience and quality, visit one of these sites:

• www.qualitycheck.org
  
• www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
  
• www.lsbme.org
• www.lahealthinform.org
  

• Regional Physical Rehabilitation Center
accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). This accreditation represents the highest level that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization's substantial conformance to the standards established by CARF. An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation outcome has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable. CARF is an independent, not-for-profit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. This accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.

• The Clinical Laboratory and the Respiratory Therapy Blood Gas Section are accredited by the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation of the College of American Pathologists (CAP). The CAP Accreditation process is recognized by the federal government as being equal to or more stringent than the government's own inspection program.

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