Upland Hills Health Starts 2018 with Five-Star Medicare Rating

Employees at Upland Hills Health Hospital and Clinics in Dodgeville are standing proud this week as they learned their work ranks among the top 7% in the country. The latest report published on the Medicare.gov Hospital Compare website reveals that Upland Hills Health (UHH) has earned a Five-Star Rating for overall hospital quality. This is the highest score possible.

“This is great news to be able to share with our 495 employees, our Board of Trustees our Foundation Board and our community. Every one played a significant role in helping UHH achieve this high score,” explained CEO, Lisa Schnedler. “We have been working hard to realize our vision which is to exemplify the highest standard of community healthcare and inspire patients to take an active role in their health through wellness-oriented care. Every department shares this achievement.”

Over 4,500 hospitals across the nation are eligible for review by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid. In the most recent report only 337 hospitals achieved the top 5-star overall rating, 28 of them are in Wisconsin. The review and the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating takes place twice a year.

“Achieving five stars from Medicare is no easy task. I know caregivers are proud of this. The most important reason for it, is for the people we serve. Even when we are at our best, we strive to improve. We do this for our neighbors, our family and our friends who rely on us in some of the most trying times of their life,” explains Schnedler. “The overall rating includes 57 of more than 100 measures for safety of care, mortality, readmissions, patient experience, effectiveness of care, timeliness of care, efficient use of medical imaging and more.” Information about the Hospital Compare tool may be found at Medicare.gov

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has revised the methodology on its Hospital Compare website to assign ratings to hospitals based on recommendations from a technical expert panel and public input. More Wisconsin hospitals received the highest marks for quality under a recently revamped federal rating system.

Under the changes, 28 hospitals in Wisconsin received five stars. Fifty-four received four stars, while 20 received three stars. Five received two stars, the lowest ranking a facility received in the state. According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, Wisconsin had the second highest overall average rating in the country.

Upland Hills Health is a 25-bed Top 100 Critical Access Hospital located in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. Governed by a eight-member Board of Trustees, Upland Hills provides healthcare to a population of over 40,000 people of Iowa County and surrounding communities (now including Mount Horeb and the southwestern corner of Dane County).

Upland Hills Health provides 24/7 emergent services, urgent care and inpatient care in Dodgeville. The Dodgeville campus is also home to a health center, specialty services clinic, dialysis center, nursing & rehabilitation center, and offers outreach clinics in Barneveld, Highland, Montfort, Mount Horeb and Spring Green.

Upland Hills Health is accredited by the Joint Commission an accreditation that signifies a commitment to quality and quality improvement.

Details about the criteria used in the ranking can be found here: https://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare/Data/Hospital-overall-ratings-calculation.html