Dr. Alan Scarrow looks at xray of spine on light board
By Mercy's Madelynn Innes
There’s a full semester of lessons ahead as well as exams before report cards are issued for students just returning to school this month. Meanwhile, Mercy’s report card, summarizing our neuroscience, spine and stroke programs, was already presented this month, and we’re passing with flying colors. In fact, we’ve been recognized as one of the nation’s top centers of excellence for neuroscience and spine care.
The designation is based on a Center of Excellence (COE) survey conducted by NeuStrategy. In all, 150 hospital-based neuroscience programs, from 41 states, have participated in the Neuroscience COE Survey. Participating organizations that fulfill COE requirements and score the highest are awarded NeuStrategy’s Comprehensive Neuroscience COE designation. This year, in addition to the Neuroscience COE designation, we’re included in NeuStrategy’s first-ever list of organizations across the country to be named centers of excellence in spine, neurovascular/stroke, cranial tumor and specialty neurology care.
“Over the last several years, our hospitals and clinics throughout our region have focused on bringing world-class neuroscience care to our communities, and we’re honored to be recognized for our accomplishments,” said Neuroscience Administrative Director Eddie Spain. “What this really means is that our patients and their families don’t have to travel to get the care they deserve; they can get it right here, so their families can be close to them.”
In addition to Mercy’s Spine Medical Destination program that allows patients from all over the nation to come here for spine care, Eddie also cited our stroke telemedicine program as another example of recent advances in our care. “It gives patients in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma access to a stroke neurologist through 21 Mercy facilities located across our ministry. Also, our cranial tumor and specialty neurology programs provide the specialized skill patients require. This isn’t just our medical expertise, but it’s also the compassion and caring of Mercy. It’s such a privilege to work with physicians, nurses and support staff, who are dedicated to doing what’s right for our neuroscience patients and their families. We’ll continue to strive to make our program even better.”
Since the survey’s inception in 2004, it’s become the industry standard to measure hospital and health system specialty-focused program performance and progression. NeuStrategy's COE Model forms the basis for defining and measuring essential hospital infrastructure that’s necessary to support high quality patient care. Organized to probe core competencies in four key categories, each survey generates analytical data that NeuStrategy’s advisors use to develop a national performance benchmark.
The COE Model includes four key elements:
Programs – inventories clinical and research programs and sub-specialization to measure the depth and breadth of a hospitals services including use of standards of care to ensure best practice.
Staff – includes a thorough review of physician, nursing, allied professional and administrative coverage, capabilities and training specific to stroke care.
Facility & Technology – assesses technology and facility real estate, including dedicated or designated patient and physician-friendly facilities, diagnostic imaging and state-of-the-art procedural and surgical capabilities.
Business – underscores the importance of governance, financial support and marketing including systematic operational effectiveness, physician and administrative leadership, communication, marketing and community education.
Learn more at NeuStrategy.com.
