2009-11-16 16:28:06 -

Today, Data Advantage, LLC announced the names of hospitals receiving the Best in Value: Superior Affordability & Efficiency Merit Award™ from the 2009-2010 Hospital Value Index™, the first and only national study on U.S. hospitals and the value of care they provide.

The Superior Affordability & Efficiency Merit Award™ showcases hospitals that deliver affordable, high quality care to their communities with high patient satisfaction. Hospitals in economically diverse markets, such as New York, Pennsylvania and Alabama, indicate success on all fronts and dominate this Merit Award list. Interestingly, no hospitals from California made the list.

“The American Hospital Association : recently revealed that profitability at community hospitals is decreasing,” said Hal Andrews, CEO of Data Advantage. “Even so, hospitals

like the Affordability & Efficiency Merit Award winners are able to prevail in an economic downturn by operating their hospitals efficiently. In doing so, this group is able to provide their patient communities with affordable healthcare.”


“With upcoming health reform legislation and the insolvency of the Medicare trust fund in 2017, hospitals can expect continuous pressures on reimbursement. It will be increasingly important for hospitals to deliver high-quality care in an efficient manner,” added Andrews.

The Hospital Value Index™ is an independent analysis of each hospital’s performance in the categories of: quality, affordability & efficiency and patient satisfaction. Out of the more than 4,500 hospitals that were analyzed, 75 received the Superior Affordability & Efficiency Merit Award for achieving high marks in the affordability & efficiency category.

In order to receive the award, hospitals were first considered as Best in Value™, or in the top 25 percent of all hospitals when considering quality and patient satisfaction. The top 10 percent of this group were then recognized in the affordability & efficiency category in order to receive the Superior Affordability & Efficiency Merit Award™.

"The Affordability & Efficiency Merit Award™ hospitals exhibit some remarkable results,” said John R. Morrow, a founder of the Hospital Value Index™ study. “These hospitals improved their scores on average by 18.58% representing the top ten percent of all hospitals in the study, while those in the bottom ten percent on average saw a decrease of 23.51% in their affordability and efficiency scores."


"These improvements reflect both a reduction of costs and a decrease in prices charged for the market basket of services. This reveals a progressive and enhanced value proposition that these hospitals deliver to their local communities every day,” Morrow added.

In alphabetical order, the Superior Affordability and Efficiency Merit Award recipients from the 2009-2010 Hospital Value Index™ study are.



- ACMH Hospital – Kittanning, PA
- Alle-Kiski Medical Center – Natrona Heights, PA
- Anson General Hospital – Anson, TX
- Arkansas Methodist Medical Center – Paragould, AR
- Arnot Ogden Medical Center – Elmira, NY
- Bertrand Chaffee Hospital – Springville, NY
- Billings Clinic – Billings, MT
- Bourbon Community Hospital – Paris, KY
- Bristow Medical Center – Bristow, OK
- Brooks Memorial Hospital – Dunkirk, NY
- Butler Memorial Hospital – Butler, PA
- Canton-Potsdam Hospital – Potsdam, NY
- Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center – Ogdensburg, NY
- Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic – Clifton Springs, NY
- Community Hospital – Tallassee, AL
- Decatur General Hospital – Decatur, AL
- DuBois Regional Medical Center – DuBois, PA
- East Texas Medical Center Crockett – Crockett, TX
- Five Rivers Medical Center – Pocahontas, AR
- Gilmore Memorial Hospital – Amory, MS
- Graham Regional Medical Center – Graham, TX
- Greenbrier Valley Medical Center – Ronceverte, WV
- Hamilton General Hospital – Hamilton, TX
- Helen Keller Memorial Hospital – Sheffield, AL
- Heritage Valley Beaver – Beaver, PA
- Heritage Valley Sewickley – Sewickley, PA
- Highland Hospital – Rochester, NY
- Iberia General Hospital and Medical Center – New Iberia, LA
- Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital – Bath, NY
- Jameson Memorial Hospital – New Castle, PA
- Jamestown Hospital – Jamestown, ND
- Jellico Community Hospital – Jellico, TN
- Jennings American Legion Hospital – Jennings, LA
- Jones Memorial Hospital – Wellsville, NY
- Kenmore Mercy Hospital – Buffalo, NY
- Lakeland Community Hospital – Haleyville, AL
- Lakeside Memorial Hospital – Brockport, NY
- Livingston Regional Hospital – Livingston, TN
- Marion General Hospital – Columbia, MS
- Marshall Medical Center South – Boaz, AL
- McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital – Oxford, OH
- Medical Center One – Bismarck. ND
- Mercy Hospital – Buffalo, NY
- Meritcare Health System – Fargo, ND
- Minden Medical Center Inc – Minden, LA
- Monroe County Hospital – Monroeville, AL
- Morehead Memorial Hospital – Eden, NC
- Nason Hospital – Roaring Spring, PA
- Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital – Dansville, NY
- Northern Hospital of Surry County – Mount Airy, NC
- Northwest Medical Center – Winfield, AL
- Pauls Valley General Hospital – Pauls Valley, OK
- Punxsutawney Area Hospital – Punxsutawney, PA
- Roane Medical Center – Harriman, TN
- Rochester General Hospital – Rochester, NY
- Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital – Sweetwater, TX
- Southeast Alabama Medical Center – Dothan, AL
- St. Alexius Medical Center – Bismarck, ND
- St. Bernard’s Medical Center – Jonesboro, AR
- St. Clair Memorial Hospital – Pittsburgh, PA
- St. Francis Hospital – Charleston, WV
- St. Joseph's Hospital Yonkers –Yonkers, NY
- St. Mary's Hospital at Amsterdam – Amsterdam, NY
- St. Mary's Medical Center of Campbell County – La Follette, TN
- Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital – Weston, WV
- Takoma Regional Hospital – Greeneville, TN
- Tawas St Joseph Hospital – Tawas City, MI
- Taylor Regional Hospital – Hawkinsville, GA
- Uniontown Hospital – Uniontown, PA
- Unity Hospital of Rochester – Rochester, NY
- UPMC Bedford – Everett, PA
- Weirton Medical Center – Weirton, WV
- Wheeling Hospital – Wheeling, WV
- Williamson Memorial Hospital – Williamson, WV
- Woman's Christian Association – Jamestown, NY


For more information on the Voices of Value™ and the Best in Value™ hospitals, please visit www.HospitalValueIndex.com : .

Note: In order for hospitals to publicize results, including the use of this news release, hospitals must obtain written approval from Data Advantage. To do so, please contact Araby Thornewill at 866-996-3282.


About Data Advantage, LLC

Data Advantage, LLC is a privately held healthcare information company that specializes in providing hospitals and other healthcare-related businesses with independent and objective business intelligence. The company has aggregated and compiled a warehouse of the most insightful information about healthcare utilization and maintains comprehensive benchmarks about the financial, operational and clinical performance of the U.S. hospital industry. For more information, visit www.data-advantage.com : or call 866-996-3282.



For Data Advantage, LLCMorgan Lynch, 615-254-0575 mlynch@jarrardinc.com : mailto:mlynch@jarrardinc.com