North Mississippi Medical Center ranks No. 1 in Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi

Comprehensive Quality Model

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi (BCBSMS) has recognized North Mississippi Medical Center as the top performer in clinical quality and outcomes among the 32 Network Hospitals participating in its Comprehensive Quality Model (CQM).

“Congratulations to North Mississippi Medical Center for being BCBSMS’ top performing CQM Network Hospital in the state,” said Dr. Lee Greer, Corporate Medical Director at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi. “We appreciate their commitment to providing clinical excellence to the community.”

“At NMMC-Tupelo, we are committed to our mission of improving the health of the people in our region,” said David Wilson, president of NMMC and chief operating officer for North Mississippi Health Services. “Participating in the BCBSMS Comprehensive Quality Model supports our continued focus on providing care to our patients in the safest way possible through reducing variations in care and adherence to national best practices. These results would not be possible without a highly engaged and passionate team of health care experts who strive every day to deliver excellent patient care.”

Based on these CQM measurements, the highest performing Network Hospitals for the first year, based on clinical quality and outcomes, included:

                             North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo

                             King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven

                             Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford

                             Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson

While each community’s health care needs may be unique, all hospitals and their professional providers must ensure quality of care by eliminating hospital-acquired conditions and surgical complications while continuously focusing on patient safety and efficient care. These quality efforts are particularly important in areas of concern in Mississippi such as heart attack care and delivery of healthy babies.

Over the past three years, BCBSMS has partnered with Network Hospitals across the state to focus on improving and ensuring quality health care for Mississippians. This collaboration resulted in the BCBSMS Comprehensive Quality Model, a value-based hospital performance model supported by national measures which evaluates each Network Hospital’s performance in patient safety, clinical quality and efficiency and health outcomes.

Building upon clinical care initiatives already underway with many Network Hospitals, the Comprehensive Quality Model standardized the measurements across all the participating CQM Network Hospitals. This ensures all hospitals are working toward the same quality of care goals, regardless of the size of their community or hospital—and for all patients.   

The overall performance data for the 32 Mississippi CQM Network Hospitals demonstrate the collaboration and partnership is improving hospital quality of care for Mississippians.

According to the Leapfrog Group, the nation’s watchdog for safety and quality in health care, Mississippi has risen from the 29th to 18th safest state in the nation as measured by the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.

BCBSMS Network Hospitals participating in the CQM program are performing closer to, if not now meeting, the national average for defect-free treatment of heart attacks. The rigorous national guidelines that define the “perfect care” for heart attack patients revealed a 23% increase in patients receiving all of the evidence-based measures while being cared for at a participating CQM hospital. 

BCBSMS CQM Network Hospitals are also improving health outcomes for mothers and babies by reducing variations in care for treatment of pregnancy-related high blood pressure and obstetrical bleeding. Baby-Friendly Hospital designation is leading to increased breast-feeding rates for newborns.

Readmissions performance for BCBSMS CQM Network Hospitals was better than the national average despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“BCBSMS is proud of the work of our Network Hospitals participating in the Comprehensive Quality Model, and we are pleased with our initial results for the first measurement year of the program. Quality of care is moving in the right direction and all Mississippians deserve safe, high-quality and efficient health care,” said Dr. Greer. “Our initial results reaffirm that BCBSMS and our participating Network Hospitals are committed to making health care better, and we look forward to our future shared success with the next generation of the quality partnership.”