At South Shore Hospital, we take very seriously our commitment to provide quality health care to the people of our region. We define health care “quality” as consistently achieving optimum health outcomes and patient satisfaction levels.
Please click on a topic below to learn more about our quality commitment:
Patients More Satisfied with Our Care
Nine Out of Ten Would Recommend Us
Staff with Proven Competencies
Clinically Affiliated with Leading Academic Medical Centers
Ready and Able to Respond to Urgent Patient Needs
Committed to Addressing Patients’ Pain
Acquiring and Exchanging the Right Information
Minimizing Variability in Patient Care
Nurturing a Learning Environment
Among the Nation's Best
South Shore Hospital scored higher than most hospitals in the country during its 2003
Joint Commission survey.
The Joint Commission is the nation’s leading health care accrediting agency. Its surveyors have exhaustively reviewed every aspect of South Shore Hospital - from patient care to facilities, clinical staff to management. South Shore Hospital’s acute, outpatient, home health and hospice service are each accredited with full standards compliance, the Joint Commission’s highest possible accreditation.
The Joint Commission has publicly released "Quality Reports" about the hospitals it accredits. The Joint Commission believes that its Quality Reports will help consumers evaluate, compare and select hospitals. Quality Reports for all hospitals can be found on The Joint Commission's website. View their Quality Report for South Shore Hospital.
Download a printable copy
You can download this report right now in Adobe Acrobat Reader format. If you do not have Acrobat, you can download it for free at Adobe.com (Click on the button below.)
Patients More Satisfied with Our Care
South Shore Hospital retains Press-Ganey Associates — the nation’s largest independent patient satisfaction monitoring organization — to measure how satisfied patients are with our care. South Shore Hospital routinely scores above state, regional, and national averages in overall patient satisfaction.
Nine Out of Ten Would Recommend Us
Among the questions we ask patients on Press-Ganey satisfaction surveys is whether they would recommend South Shore Hospital to a family member or friend — a strong vote of confidence in our quality and services. Typically, nine in ten of our acute and home health care patients report that they would recommend South Shore Hospital.
Keeping Our Patients Safe
Effective reduction of medical errors and events that contribute to unintended patient outcomes requires an environment in which patients, their families, staff and leaders can identify, mitigate and eliminate actual and potential risks to patient safety. Our work includes organization-wide efforts to continuously identify opportunities for systems improvement. South Shore Hospital adheres to the recommended practices of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors and to the standards of the Massachusetts Hospital Association Safe Medication Criteria.
Other patient safety initiatives include:
- Introducing a physician computer order entry system,
- Participating in a national patient-safety enhancement program, through the Health Research and Educational Trust and American Hospital Association (AHA),
- Reviewing the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality initiatives for evidence-based safe practices, and
- Participating in the Massachusetts Peer Review Organization (MassPRO) programs in pulmonary and cardiology care.
- Providing Rapid Response Teams — a multidisciplinary team of caregivers who respond when a patient may need additional clinical support or assessments.
Staff with Proven Competencies
Quality health care necessitates the availability of qualified physicians, nurses, clinicians and support staff who are available to capably address our patients' medical needs and critical care needs.
Each of South Shore Hospital’s medical staff members undergoes a rigorous initial credentialing process before earning privileges to admit their patients to our care.
Our medical staff members are board-certified or board-eligible in their
medical specialties.
No other
hospital in the region has such a large, experienced, and diversified medical
staff.
We employ more registered nurses than any hospital in the region because we have refused to allow nursing care to be provided by unlicensed caregivers.
Clinically Affiliated with Leading Academic Medical Centers
South Shore Hospital is clinically affiliated with leading academic medical centers:
- Neonatal intensive care, pediatric emergency, inpatient pediatric
services,
and outpatient pediatric clinics, provided in association with physicians from
Children's Hospital Boston. - Breast Care Center, cardiology, reproductive endocrinology, gynecological oncology, urogynecology, and a surgical residency program, provided in association with physicians from Brigham & Women's Hospital.
- Select clinical cancer trials, offered in association with
Dana-Farber/Partners
Cancer Care. - Pediatric outpatient specialty clinics (cardiology, gastroenterology, special needs), provided in association with physicians from New England Medical Center.
- Stroke care and brachytherapy prostate cancer treatment, provided in
association
with physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital. - Emergency medicine residency program, in association with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Ready and Able to Respond to Urgent Patient Needs
South Shore Hospital demonstrates its commitment to the critical care needs of our
patients through:
- 24/7 on-site medical coverage in our critical care units by board-certified anesthesiologists.
- 24/7 on-site medical coverage for obstetrical patients by board-certified obstetricians/gynecologists.
- Internal medicine Hospitalist program provides optional in-house coverage for our hospitalized patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- 24-bed MICU, SICU, and CCU staffed by board-certified anesthesiology
intensivists 24 hours a day. - A pediatric emergency program staffed by board-certified pediatric emergency physicians.
- An inpatient pediatric unit organized and facilitated by board-certified pediatricians affiliated with Children’s Hospital, Boston.
- Full-time clinical chairs of surgery, medicine, obstetrics, and emergency care (typically only found in academic medical centers).
Committed to Addressing Patients’ Pain
South Shore Hospital is committed to assuring that our patients’ pain is routinely assessed and effectively managed. We have dedicated a team of multidisciplinary professionals to help patients manage their pain throughout their hospitalization and home health care experiences.
Acquiring and Exchanging the Right Information
Quality is assured when relevant and accurate medical information is available where and when it is needed. South Shore Hospital is amidst a multi-year initiative to enhance the availability of “information anywhere,” including the introduction of physician computer order entry, electronic medical records, and electronic nursing-care documentation.
Minimizing Variability in Patient Care
Quality involves minimizing the over-use, under-use and misuse of medical and clinical interventions. South Shore Hospital is committed to minimizing variability in patient care by using clinical “order sets” that are based on medical consensus and literature review. In addition, we participate in national studies where “best practices” are tracked, monitored, and shared.
One example is our participation in the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction to help measure how effectively we care for people experiencing heart attacks. Similar initiatives are underway in how we care for those experiencing acute neurologic conditions, such as a stroke, and in how we care for those with a diagnosed breast-health condition.
Nurturing a Learning Environment
Quality involves creating opportunities for hospital and medical staff to remain current with professional skills and knowledge. South Shore Hospital achieves this through structured education that is consistent with current best practices. Clinical champions within and outside our organization provide clinical guidance. South Shore Hospital staff members also take advantage of online learning opportunities and nationally recognized health information databases.
South Shore Hospital participates in Schwartz Center Rounds — a multidisciplinary forum where caregivers discuss difficult emotional and social issues that arise in caring for patients.
Investing in Quality
South Shore Hospital has committed itself to quality and value for our patients by investing in its own infrastructure, with the creation of a new surgical center, maternity, labor and birthing center, and pediatric/neonatal facilities; a brand new emergency department with areas structured to facilitate specialized care for patients including chest pain, geriatric, and psychiatric presentations. This investment in time, capital and human resources represents a significant commitment to providing quality to the patients we serve.