Quality & Safety

Quality of patient care has always been vital to the mission of Valley View. But providing our neighbors with the best care possible isn’t something we’re satisfied with, as we continually strive for ways to improve care.

We are committed to a philosophy of patient-centered care, which includes full and transparent communication with patients and families. That transparency extends to openness with our patients and communities about our efforts to improve performance in safety, quality, and patient outcomes.

We hope that access to this information allows you to feel confident in our organization and our commitment to you.

Valley View Hospital and its related healthcare entities are accredited by The Joint Commission.

Information on The Joint Commission

Valley View Hospital is designated as a Planetree Patient Centered Care Hospital.

Patient Satisfaction

At Valley View, your satisfaction with the care we provide an important measure of our performance. We want to deliver care that respects you as an individual, and so we want to hear your genuine opinions and comments related to your experience with us. With your help, we will continue to improve and provide exceptional care.

We send patient satisfaction surveys to our patients after their visits to ask how likely patients are to recommend this hospital, how well their hospital’s doctors and nurses communicate with patients, and how well they manage their patients’ pain. Valley View is proud that we have continuously achieved patient satisfaction scores well above national standards. Our patient satisfaction data can be found at hospital compare.

Patient Safety

  • Patient safety is the foundation of all our efforts at Valley View. We aim to ensure the safety of each of our patients by eliminating avoidable harm, injury, and death. Our commitment to your safety is deep, consistent, and ongoing.

    What we do to keep you safe

    Valley View is committed to fostering a culture of safety — for patients, employees and visitors. We work in a variety of ways to improve safety for patients in all our facilities, so we can deliver safe, high-quality patient care, and retain our excellent staff.

    Research has shown that human beings—in all lines of work—make errors. Designing systems that make it easier for people to do the correct thing can prevent those errors. At Valley View, we continually monitor our compliance with safety measures, working to improve the systems and processes that help us keep you safe. We follow National Patient Safety Goals from The Joint Commission, each of which specifies practices that have been shown to decrease errors and create a safer environment for our patients.

  • What you can do to stay safe during your hospital stay

    Everyone has a role in making healthcare safe — physicians, healthcare executives, nurses, and technicians. You, as the patient, also play a vital role in making your care safe by becoming an active, informed and involved member of your health care team.

    – Tell your doctors and nurses about any allergies or negative reactions to medications, latex, or foods.

    – Bring a list of all current medications including strength, dose, and frequency. Also inform your health care provider of any vitamins, supplements, or over the counter medications you take.

    – Ask questions and make sure you understand your condition, medications, tests, and treatments. Educate yourself about what you need to do to manage your condition and what your caregivers are doing to help you heal quickly.

    – Talk to the staff about the care you’re getting. Ask questions if something doesn’t seem right to you.

    – If you don’t see your physician, nurse, or caregiver wash his/her hands before touching you, ask them to. Hand washing is the single most important thing healthcare workers can do to help prevent the spread of infection.

    – Have a trusted family member or friend available to assist as your care partner. This person can be a second set of ears to listen to the information your physician is telling you and help make sure you follow the instructions as directed.

    – Ask about signs and symptoms that are important to watch for to identify problems and prevent complications.

    – Ask about the care you’ll need after leaving the hospital, and arrange any referrals and after care with your physician.

Quality

  • What is Quality?
    Lots of hospitals talk about their “Quality of Care,” but that can mean different things to different people. To some, it’s as simple as getting a good outcome for a procedure. For others, it is satisfaction with the full healthcare experience. At Valley View, we like the definition used by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ): “Doing the right thing for the right patient, at the right time, in the right way to achieve the best possible results.”

    At Valley View, we strive to exceed your expectations every single time we interact with you, from a simple phone call to major medical treatments. We work hard to create a personalized experience that will help you meet your health related goals and outcomes.

    How do we Measure Quality?
    The baseline measurement of quality is for accreditation; to participate in Medicare, hospitals must comply with Medicare health and safety regulations. We are inspected regularly and evaluated for our compliance with these standards. But quality is so much more than passing tests; it’s about creating an environment for constant improvement.

    At Valley View we are proud of our collaborative environment, one which enables hospitals, clinics, and physicians to share best practices for improving our quality measures. Valley View uses Planetree’s patient-centered philosophy to support continuous improvement in systems and practices, and every aspect of our process is continually reviewed and improved.

    To drive our quest for improved quality, we use clinical information and outcome data as used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) and other agencies. Different agencies and groups have different ways of reporting clinical outcomes that can affect the way a hospital is rated, and Valley View uses evidence-based standards — analyzing data to compare our quality of care with national benchmarks.

    CMS developed their Core Measures based on analysis conditions that contribute to morbidity and mortality, conditions that represent national public health priorities, and conditions that disproportionately drive healthcare costs. The intent is to help improve hospitals’ quality of care by distributing objective, easy-to-understand data on hospital performance, as well as quality information from consumer perspectives. Valley View monitors care with many of these core measures, including Heart Attack Care, Heart Failure, Pneumonia, Surgical Care Improvement Project, and Perinatal Care. This publicly reportable data is available on the government’s Hospital Compare website.

    We encourage our patients to be knowledgeable and informed about patient care. Quality data is currently publicly available for core measures and patient satisfaction at the following sites:
    Hospital Compare
    Joint Commission Quality Check
    Healthgrades
    Colorado Hospital Association Report Card

  • Valley View has been recognized as a 2013 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in the United States. Valley View was recognized as part of The Joint Commission’s 2014 annual report “America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety,” for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance. Valley View is one of only of 712 hospitals to achieve the Top Performer distinction for the past two consecutive years, and one of 314 hospitals to achieve the Top Performer distinction for the past three years.

    Healthgrades recognizes top-performing hospitals in the nation that have achieved quality excellence in particular specialties, clinical excellence, and patient safety. Healthgrades releases a comprehensive review of all hospitals each fall, and announces specialty achievements throughout the year on an annual basis.

    Valley View Hospital is recognized:
    Cardiac Five-Star Recipient for Coronary Interventional Procedures, 2 Years in a Row (2014-2015)
    Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Attack for 3 Years in a Row (2013-2015)
    Pulmonary Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for 2 Years in a Row (2014-2015)
    Gastrointestinal Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of GI Bleed for 2 Years in a Row (2014-2015)
    Critical Care Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Sepsis for 5 Years in a Row (2011-2015)
    Recipient of the Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ for 7 Years in a Row (2009-2014)
    Top 10% in the Nation for Outstanding Patient Experience for 7 Years in a Row (2009-2014)
    Top 15% in the Nation for Outstanding Patient Experience for 7 Years in a Row (2009-2014)