Dorchester, MA – July 21, 2017 – In its Semi-Annual Report for the period of July 1, 2016-June 31, 2017, Carney Hospital achieved 100% of all healthcare quality metrics set by MassHealth’s DSTI program.

 

Delivery System Transformation Initiatives (DSTI) is an incentive payment program to support eligible safety net hospitals’ investments in initiatives that aim to enhance the quality of care, improve population health, and lower health care costs. Acute hospitals who treat a higher than average number of patients enrolled with MassHealth are eligible for the program. In order to earn DSTI payments, eligible hospitals must meet the performance goals outlined in their three-year transformation plans as approved by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

 

The quality measures achieved by Carney include decreasing Emergency Room visits for frequent patients by scheduling them for regular Primary Care visits, integrating and expanding access to behavioral health services available to patients who visit the ER, increasing utilization of available inpatient behavioral health services, and increased communication with healthcare providers and education for patients upon discharge to reduce readmissions.

 

“Programs such as DSTI are vital for reducing the cost of healthcare and increasing access to health services for our community,” said Carney Hospital President Walter Ramos.

 

The DSTI program is part of the Commonwealth’s effort to restructure MassHealth to emphasize value in care delivery and better meet patient needs through more integrated and coordinated care, while reducing healthcare costs. This restructuring represents a shift from the traditional fee-for-service healthcare model, where healthcare providers are paid for the services they provide, to an accountable care organization model, where healthcare providers are paid based upon the quality of care they provide and achieving defined health outcomes for their service populations. 

 

 

Since 1863, Carney Hospital has served the City of Boston and neighboring communities. Carney Hospital has received the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for health care quality and safety and numerous other quality and safety awards, including being designated a Top Hospital for 2014 and 2015 by the Leapfrog Group. The 159-bed hospital has more than 400 physicians and delivers quality care to approximately 140,000 patients annually. Carney Hospital provides Dorchester and surrounding communities with convenient, local access to quality primary care, emergency medicine and a range of specialties and subspecialties including; critical care, family medicine, cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, ambulatory care and adolescent, adult and geriatric psychiatry. Carney Hospital is part of the Steward Health Care Network. To learn more, please visit www.carneyhospital.org.

 

Steward Health Care is a fully integrated national health care services organization committed to providing the highest quality of care in the communities where our patients live. Steward owns and operates 18 community hospitals across four states, serves over 800 communities, and has more than 23,000 employees. The Steward network includes more than 25 urgent care centers, 42 preferred skilled nursing facilities, substantial behavioral health offerings, and more than 3,700 beds under management.

 

The innovative, community-based Steward Health Care Network includes several thousand physicians who care for approximately 2 million patients annually. Steward Medical Group, the company’s employed physician group, provides more than 1 million patient encounters per year and manages Steward Home Care and Hospice with 300,000 and 35,000 patient encounters respectively. Steward’s unique health care service delivery model leverages technology and care coordination to keep patients healthier and in the community. Steward is recognized as one of the nation’s leading accountable care organizations. Steward hospitals have received the country’s top awards for quality and safety.

 

The Steward Hospital Group is comprised of: Sebastian River Medical Center (Sebastian, FL), Wuesthoff Medical Center (Melbourne, FL), Wuesthoff Medical Center (Rockledge, FL), Carney Hospital (Dorchester, MA), Good Samaritan Medical Center (Brockton, MA), Holy Family Hospital (Haverhill, MA and Methuen, MA), Morton Hospital (Taunton, MA), Nashoba Valley Medical Center (Ayer, MA), New England Sinai Hospital (Stoughton, MA), Norwood Hospital (Norwood, MA), Saint Anne’s Hospital (Fall River, MA), St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center (Brighton, MA), Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital (Warren, OH), Northside Medical Center (Youngstown, OH), Trumbull Memorial Hospital (Warren, OH), Easton Hospital (Easton, PA) and Sharon Regional Health System (Sharon, PA).  

 

Additional information is available at www.steward.org.

 

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