Alton Memorial Named Best in Value by National Survey

Hospital Among Top 10 in Illinois and First in Madison County

PHOTO BY RUSTY INGRAM Dave Braasch, center, president of Alton Memorial Hospital, accepts the Best In Value Award from Eddie Thomas, far left, vice president of Data Advantage, and Dr. David Potash, second from left, chief medical officer for Data Advantage. Second from right is Paul Lauschke, chairman of the AMH board of directors. Ken Balsters, who will become chairman of the board in January, is on the far right.

(Alton, IL - December 8, 2009) � Alton Memorial Hospital has been recognized with a 2009-2010 Hospital Value Index: Best in Value Award as a result of a study conducted by Data Advantage, LLC, the nation�s leader in measuring health care value.

AMH ranked among the top tier of all hospitals nationwide, achieving high marks in quality, affordability, efficiency and patient satisfaction.

�Our number one priority is quality,� says AMH President Dave Braasch. �We believe that we have been very responsive to community need and that we have caring and compassionate employees. It�s nice to see that we have been able to balance quality, service and costs for our patients. And it is really important that the people we care for believe that, too. Our physicians, nurses and staff strive each day to make our hospital the leader in quality care, and this award stands as a testament to their dedication and achievement of their goals.�

Using national data, AMH ranks in the Top 10 among all hospitals in Illinois and is No. 1 in Illinois for Core Based Statistical Areas for hospitals its size. AMH also ranks first in Madison County.

�What makes this even more exciting is that this is all based on what our patients are saying about us,� Braasch said. �We�ve set out to provide the best care close to home. This award is a testament to keeping our promise. Yet we are not done and will work together to Make Medicine Better.�

The Hospital Value Index is the first and only performance indicator to focus on the value hospitals provide to their community and utilizes the latest publicly available data, including Hospital Compare from July 2009, to recognize these accomplishments.

�Value is increasingly important to patients and consumers who decide which hospital they will access for care,� said Hal Andrews, CEO of Data Advantage. �The Hospital Value Index is the first award to recognize those hospitals providing exceptional value of care to their communities, and Alton Memorial Hospital has achieved great results.�

The Hospital Value Index pulled data from approximately 4,500 general acute care hospitals, serving approximately 30.1 million consumers. It defines a hospital�s �value� by its success in four critical areas:
� Quality, including Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services core measures, patient safety and readmission rates;
� Efficiency, including the relative measure of the cost to the hospital for providing services
� Affordability, a relative comparison of prices charged for inpatient and outpatient services;
� Patient satisfaction as measured by HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems). The full Hospital Value Index study and list of findings can be found at www.HospitalValueIndex.com.