Published: Thursday, November 8, 2012 1:03 AM CST

Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton was recently recognized as one of the best in the region for its patient care.Healthgrades independently measures hospitals based on data that is submitted to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of the analysis, and no hospital gets paid to be measured.

Avera Sacred Heart was just one of two hospitals in South Dakota to receive the outstanding patient experience award. This is its fifth straight year of winning the award.

Avera Sacred Heart was also ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation for outstanding patient experience in 2012.

The hospital won multiple five-star awards including for treatment of heart attack for the second year in a row, treatment of stroke also for the second straight year, treatment of pneumonia for the second year in a row, carotid surgery and for the treatment of bowel     obstruction.

In addition, Avera Sacred Heart was ranked number two in South Dakota for the treatment of stroke, and number four in the state for gastrointestinal (GI) services and general surgery. The hospital has been ranked among the top five in each category for the past two years.

“I think that getting recognized really causes us to celebrate. We are really pleased that we’re ranked with the top hospitals in the nation,” said Pam Rezac, president and CEO of Avera Sacred Heart Hospital. “Most importantly, we hope the people we serve feel more confident in our services and care because we’re being compared with the best of the best. It helps us insure patients that we give the very best care.”

Rezac said there is a national company that rates patient satisfaction, and all hospitals are required to participate in the patient satisfaction survey.

“The company compares scores of thousands of hospitals, and they rate and rank (the facilities) to determine which hospitals have the best experience,” she said.

Hospitals send over their clinical information through the Medicare program and submit all data based on specific areas. There are various criteria that hospitals are judged on whether they meet certain characteristics and protocols.

“We follow those guidelines each day and each hour to determine if we have fulfilled the correct protocol,” Rezac said. “The criteria are all very detailed and this comprehensive approach would not be possible without the electronic medical record data. We are able to have these comparisons thanks to technology.”

She added that she was most satisfied when she found out the hospital had gotten the patient satisfaction award.

“This was the most significant because it was both clinical surveys and seeing how satisfied patients are with the services we provided,” Rezac said. “It had both the clinical approach and the voice of the patient and their perception.”

She said that there are more than 50 hospitals in South Dakota, so to be ranked in the top five in many categories is a significant achievement.

“We feel as if this is a good measure of our success. If we are compared and ranked in the top percentile of the nation, it means we’re among the best of the best and that’s where we want to be,” Rezac said. “Our patients and people in the area deserve that kind of care.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal.