DeKalb Medical Recognized as a Community Value Five-Star™Hospital By Cleverley + Associates

Decatur, Ga. -- (August 25, 2010) Dekalb Medical was recently recognized as a top-ranked Community Value Provider by Cleverley + Associates (Columbus, OH). Cleverley + Associates, a leading healthcare financial consulting firm specializing in operational benchmarking and performance enhancement strategies, released the findings as part of its new publication: State of the Hospital Industry - 2010 Edition.

“Our nation is looking for greater accountability by health systems like ours for the total value we provide to our community,” said Eric P. Norwood, F.A.C.H.E., President and Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb Medical.  “That’s why we are proud of this 5-Star recognition by an independent assessment of our financial strength and reinvestment, cost of care, pricing and quality.”

Written by William O. Cleverley, Ph.D., a noted expert in healthcare finance, the State of the Hospital Industry reports selected measures of hospital financial performance and discusses the critical factors that lie behind them. The publication focuses on the US acute-care hospital industry over a three-year time period (2006-2008).

For the seventh year, the 2010 State of the Hospital Industry reports an exclusive measure developed by Cleverley + Associates: the Community Value Index® (CVI). The CVI is a proprietary index created to offer a measure of the value that a hospital provides to its community. The book outlines the data used to calculate the CVI as well as provides a list of the Top 100 and all Five-Star (top quintile) hospitals.

“The topic of hospital value is increasingly being discussed. Issues of pricing and community benefit have been well-publicized but little has been offered to measure the broad scope of value,” adds James Cleverley, co-author. “In response, the Community Value Index® was created to provide an assessment of a hospital’s performance in four areas: financial strength and reinvestment, cost of care, pricing, and quality. Fundamentally, the CVI suggests that a hospital provides value to the community when it is financially viable, is appropriately reinvesting back into the facility, maintains a low cost structure, has reasonable charges, and provides high quality care to patients.”

About DeKalb Medical
A leader in cancer, heart attack treatment and orthopedics, DeKalb Medical is building healthy communities with a network of three hospitals and more than 800 physicians skilled in 55 medical specialties. Founded in Atlanta in 1961, the 627-bed hospital system includes the 451-bed DeKalb Medical at North Decatur, which was named in the top 5% of all U.S. hospitals for Clinical Excellence by HealthGrades® (2009 and 2010).
Also ranked in the top 10% in the nation for Overall Orthopedic Services (2010) by HealthGrades, DeKalb Medical at North Decatur is 5-Star rated for Heart Attack Treatment (2007-2010), Total Joint Replacement (2010), Hip Fracture Repair (2009-2010), Total Knee Replacement (2010), Peripheral Vascular Bypass (2009-2010), and Treatment of Sepsis (2009-2010). In addition, the System operates the 76-bed DeKalb Medical Long Term Acute Care at Downtown Decatur and the 100-bed DeKalb Medical at Hillandale. For more information on DeKalb Medical, visit www.dekalbmedical.org.

About Clerverley + Associates
Cleverley + Associates is a Columbus, Ohio-based healthcare data and consulting services firm specializing in custom data analyses and reporting for healthcare providers, consultants, and vendors. The company’s primary focus is to provide healthcare providers with solutions and recommendations that will enhance their financial performance through better pricing decisions; improved coding, capital restructuring, cost and productivity enhancements; and/or investment management changes. For more information, call Cleverley + Associates at 888-779-5663 or visit www.cleverleyassociates.com.

Tori Vogt
Media Relations Coordinator                           
DeKalb Medical                                                                       
tori.vogt@dekalbmedical.org                                                                      
404.501.2885