About Seton Awards and Certifications

Verispan 2008 IHN 100

The Seton Family of Hospitals was ranked highest in Texas for efficiency and performance among the top 100 integrated healthcare systems nationwide by Verispan, a healthcare data and consulting firm. The Verispan 2008 IHN 100 recognizes healthcare systems that operate as a unified organization in eight categories: integration, integrated technology, contractual capabilities, outpatient utilization, financial stability, services and access, hospital utilization and physicians. Seton ranked higher than the Top Ten average nationally for services, access and financial stability.

Best Places to Work

The Seton Family of Hospitals has been named one of the "Best Places to Work in Central Texas" for 2007 by the Austin Business Journal.

Seton is one of only 10 winners in the "large business" category. The award recognizes achievements in creating a positive work environment that attracts, develops and retains employees through a combination of people practices, working conditions, feeling valued and company culture.

Magnet Nursing

The American Nurses Credentialing Center, an arm of the American Nurses Association (ANCC), has redesignated University Medical Center at Brackenridge, Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, Seton Medical Center Austin and Seton Northwest with Magnet-the highest honor bestowed to nursing services in healthcare organizations. The four-year designation is given to organizations that are committed to sustaining excellence, improving professional practice and transforming the culture of a work environment. Magnet designation provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark to measure the quality of care they can expect to receive. The four-year designation was first given by ANCC in 2002.

Seton Family of Hospitals Named “Most Improved” in 2007 Most Wired Survey

Seton Family of Hospitals has been named to the nation’s “Most Improved”, according to the results of the 2006 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study.
 
The Most Wired Survey is conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. It focuses on how the hospitals implement technology in key areas such as safety, quality of care, customer service, workforce performance and public health and safety.

Seton has been awarded “Most Improved” because of the implementation of nurse documentation and Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) components of COMPASS.

Seton Family of Hospitals is one of 24 organizations that earned the designation out of 20 percent of the nation's hospitals.

Brain and Spine Center at Brackenridge is Central Texas' Only Designated Neuroscience Center of Excellence

The Brain & Spine Center at Brackenridge Hospital has been designated as a Neuroscience Center of Excellence (COE), according to the 2006 Neuroscience Center of Excellence, co-sponsored by Neurosource, Inc., and HealthTech, San Francisco, CA.

The Brain & Spine Center is the only one in Central Texas to receive this honor. The 2006 survey, the only one of its kind in the neurosciences, analyzed 150 neuroscience programs, across 41 states. A hospital's overall performance is determined by measuring program progress in four key areas: clinical and research programs, staff, facilities and technology, and business.

Seton Edgar B. Davis Hospital Receives National Award for Pneumonia Care

Seton Edgar B. Davis Hospital has been named as a 2006 CareScience Select Practice National Quality Leader in the category of Pneumonia.

As a recipient of the 2006 Select Practice Quality Leader award, SEBD has achieved superior performance in care of Pneumonia patients, as identified by the CareScience Select Practice methodology. The methodology uses a combination of quality and efficiency indices to track a hospital’s performance.

The combined quality and efficiency rating determines the CareScience annual Select Practice Leader award for recipients.

Seton Medical Center Austin Recognized for Cardiac Care

Seton Medical Center Austin has received full accreditation as a Chest Pain Center from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Only six percent of hospitals in the United States have received this distinction.

Key areas in which a Chest Pain Center must demonstrate expertise include:

• Integrating the emergency department with the local emergency medical system
• Assessing, diagnosing and treating cardiac patients quickly
• Effectively treating patients with a low risk for heart attack and who have no assignable cause for their symptoms
• Continually seeking to improve processes and procedures
• Ensuring Chest Pain Center personnel competency and training
• Maintaining organizational structure and commitment
• Having a functional design that promotes optimal patient care
• Supporting community outreach programs that educate the public to promptly seek medical care if they display symptoms of a possible heart attack

The goal of the Society of Chest Pain Centers is to significantly reduce the mortality rate of these patients by teaching the public to recognize and react to the early symptoms of a possible heart attack, reduce the time that it takes to receive treatment, and increase the accuracy and effectiveness of treatment.

Seton Northwest Hospital Earns Award for Patient Safety

Seton Northwest Hospital received the inaugural President's Award in Clinical Excellence from Ascension Health, the nation's largest Catholic and nonprofit health system of which Seton is a member.

The President's Award recognizes Seton Northwest's outstanding efforts in implementing key patient safety initiatives.

To achieve this goal, Seton Northwest introduced new strategies focused on patient safety. One core example is the adoption of a bundled approach to help prevent bloodstream infections related to central vascular access catheters, or central lines.

During 2006, Seton Northwest obtained an average closest to zero incidents among all of the Ascension Health hospitals that were eligible for the award.

Seton Southwest Hospital Earns State’s Top Nursing Honor

Seton Southwest Hospital, has received the coveted Nurse-Friendly(TM) designation of the Texas Nurses Association. To date, less than seven percent of hospitals in Texas have achieved this exclusive distinction.

To earn the honor, Seton Southwest Hospital was required to meet 12 essential elements of the ideal nurse work environment - as defined by nurses and research - in the facility's practices, policies and culture.

Seton Southwest Hospital joins two other Seton facilities that have already received the Nurse-Friendly designation - Seton Edgar B. Davis Hospital and Seton Highland Lakes Hospital.

Two Seton Facilities Earn Coveted Primary Stroke Center Certification

Brackenridge Hospital and Seton Medical Center Austin have both received the coveted Gold Seal of Approval™ for their comprehensive stroke prevention and treatment programs. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) once again awarded the facilities Primary Stroke Center Certification.

Primary Stroke Centers are required to meet certain standards of care as established by the Brain Attack Coalition and the American Stroke Association. They include 24/7 stroke team physicians, round-the-clock imaging services and comprehensive commitment from hospital staff to coordinate and deliver care to acute stroke patients.

Brackenridge and SMCA were the first hospitals in the state to be designated as Primary Stroke Centers in December 2004.

Brain & Spine Center at Brackenridge Hospital Receives Outstanding Program Recognition

The 2006 Texas Cardiovascular Health Promotion Awards, presented by the Texas Council on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke, recognize innovative and effective programs aimed at improving cardiovascular health in communities. The Brain & Spine Stroke Program and the Brain & Spine SCI Fitness Center Program has received an Outstanding Program recognition in the 2006 Texas Cardiovascular Health Promotion Awards.

Programs competing for the Texas Cardiovascular Health Promotion Awards must demonstrate efforts to help targeted audiences in schools, worksites, health care settings and the community recognize the impact of the risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

The Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas Wins Award for Sustainability

Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas and Karlsberger, the architect firm designing the new hospital, have been awarded the American Institute of Architects Columbus Chapter (AIA Columbus), 2006 Designing Towards Sustainability Award. This is an annual competition honoring outstanding sustainable architecture. There are two categories in the competition: unbuilt and completed projects. DCMCCT won in the unbuilt category.

DCMCCT will be the first hospital in the world to have Platinum Status under the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council when it opens in June 2007.

Children’s Hospital of Austin Volunteers Receive Award for their Fundraising Efforts

Volunteers at Children’s Hospital of Austin, were rewarded recently by the Texas Association of Healthcare Volunteers (TAHV) the Past President’s Award of Excellence for their fundraising work on their first- ever Miracle Market, benefiting the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.

 

 

Seton Highland Lakes Earns Nurse-Friendly Designation

BURNET, Texas – (May , 2006) - Seton Highland Lakes, a member of the Seton Family of Hospitals, has received the coveted "Nurse-Friendly" designation from the Texas Nurses Association. The hospital is the only Central Texas to join an elite group of hospitals in the state who have earned this mark of distinction.

As one of the newest Nurse-Friendly Hospital designees,Seton Highland Lakes joins an elite group of just 11 Texas facilities which have earned this three-year distinction. Key to the designation process, the facility's own nurses confirm through a confidential, online survey that their facility is committed to nurses and values their contributions in its overall pursuit of safe, quality patient care.

Top Hospital for Cardiovascular Services

Seton Medical Center has been recognized for continuously improving the care and safety of its patients. The medical center was named a recipient of the "2005 Solucient 100 Top Hospitals® Performance Improvement Leaders" award. The award was announced publicly in the May 2006 issue of Modern Healthcare.

Seton Medical Center was recognized for setting national benchmarks for consistent improvement in clinical outcomes, safety, hospital efficiency, financial stability and growth over five years (2000-2004). These gains translate to significant value to the community because the health care services Seton provides are improving more steadily and quickly than many peer hospitals. Patients are receiving better, safer and more efficient care.

Seton Medical Center is among the nation’s top cardiovascular hospitals, according to Solucient’s 2004 study 100 Top Hospitals©: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success. The Solucient study recognizes 100 hospitals for setting national performance benchmarks that demonstrate superior cardiovascular services and have been most effective at increasing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) survival. Solucient used three different comparison groups for its study— teaching hospitals with cardiovascular residencies, teaching hospitals without cardiovascular residencies and community hospitals. Overall performance was analyzed by using previous Medicare cost reports and Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data.

A Decade of Recognition for Quality Care Seton Medical Center Honored with National Award

In Nov. 2005, Seton Medical Center was honored with a Consumer Choice Award by the National Research Corporation, which tracks the performance and preferences of 3,000 healthcare organizations in more than 180 markets. Here, Seton Medical Center is represented by 21 associates from Administration, Lab, Surgery, Volunteers, Admissions and Human