Do You Have a Garden City Physician?

Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mi may have the resources to promote an extensive campaign about the quality of their physicians with their tagline, “Do you have a Beaumont doctor?” But how does Beaumont truly rank among hospitals in Macomb, Oakland, Wayne and Washtenaw counties?

The Report on Health Care Performance done by www.vitalmichigan.com, does not have Beaumont rated so highly. The report, which looks at the management of heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, infection prevention, mortality and safety has Beaumont only rated in the top 25% in heart attack management, infection prevention and safety volume. In fact in the management of heart failure Beaumont ranks in the middle 50% and in the treatment of pneumonia ranks in the lowest 25% among hospitals in the Metro Detroit area.

One hospital that out-performed Beaumont in the management of these diseases was a small community hospital, Garden City Hospital. Garden City scored in the top 25% in the measured categories of heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, infection prevention, mortality and safety and in the top 50% in safety volume. The only other hospital in the Metro Detroit region that scored this highly was the University of Michigan; and Garden City still out-performed U of M in the management of pneumonia.

These measurements are largely based on discharge instructions and early in-patient care. For example, a patient discharged after a heart attack should receive certain medications, such as an ACE inhibitor, aspirin, Plavix, beta-blocker and a statin. If these medications are not prescribed for patients then the patient’s care is considered sub-optimal. Therefore, one problem with a report like this is assuming that all individuals should be treated the same, which may not necessarily apply to every individual patient.

The competition among hospitals has reached a nauseating point, with Beaumont insinuating their institution is the only one that can save someone’s life and Oakwood stating they can have a patient treated almost before they enter the emergency department. However, these hospitals do not measure up to other hospitals in the management of heart failure, heart attacks and pneumonia.

There is one hospital that does manage these diseases better than most hospitals, although they do not have the resources to offer elaborate marketing campaigns. That hospital is Garden City Hospital. Do you have a Garden City physician?