The following is a media release received from Cullman Regional printed as-is:

With multiple active quality initiatives in place including one that is credited with saving hundreds of lives, Cullman Regional is achieving high marks from national healthcare quality programs.

Cullman Regional saved an estimated 301 lives from January 2017 to May of this year by following best practice guidelines for sepsis care set by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS). The hospital’s high performance in this quality metric earned it a spot in the CMS Top 10% Performance rankings.

Sepsis is the leading cause of death in hospitals and has been a priority quality measure with CMS since 2015. Each year at least 1.7 million adults develop sepsis and at least 350,000 adults die as a result.

Cullman Regional also ranks as a CMS Top 10% Performance hospital for elective deliveries less than 39 weeks, which is a way to measure the quality of prenatal care. The hospital consistently beats both

national and state benchmarks in the remaining CMS quality initiatives which include stroke care, ER wait times and colon cancer screening follow up.

“We’re making quality care more than an organizational goal,” said Cullman Regional CEO James Clements. “We’re creating a culture where providing high quality care is at the forefront of everything we do.”

With equal commitment to stroke and heart failure care, Cullman Regional recently earned two American Heart Association (AHA) Get With the Guidelines achievement awards. According to the AHA, the Get With the Guidelines program promotes consistent adherence to the latest research-driven guidelines to improve patient outcomes across cardiovascular and stroke focus areas and ultimately leads to lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.

“Appropriate sepsis management, early stroke detection and treatment, and evidenced based heart failure management saves lives,” said Smith. “These awards underscore Cullman Regional’s commitment to improving survival, minimizing disability, and accelerating recovery times for our patients.”

A list and descriptions of Cullman Regional’s recent rankings and awards is below.

Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus

• Target: Stroke Elite Honor Roll
• Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure Gold Plus

• Target: Heart Failure Honor Roll
• Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (as of 7/15/24)

Sepsis Early Management Bundle

• Cullman Regional 97%
• National 61%
• State 60%

Elective Deliveries Less Than 39 weeks gestation

• Cullman Regional 0%
• National 2%
• State 3%

Stroke Head CT Scan Results

• Cullman Regional 84%
• National 69%
• State 64%

Median Time from ED Arrival to Departure

• Cullman Regional 146 minutes
• National 163
• State 146

Outpatient Colonoscopy Screening 10 Year Follow Up

• Cullman Regional 9%
• National – 92%
• State – 85%