Achievements
American College of Cardiology’s NCDR Chest Pain — MI Registry Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2023
The award recognizes Rapides Regional Medical Center’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies RRMC has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
US News “high-performing”
Rapides Regional Medical Center has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “high-performing” hospital in the areas of heart failure, heart attack, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney failure for 2022-2023. U.S. News & World Report looks at data from approximately 5,000 medical centers with special attention given to items such as patient survival, nurse staffing and volume.
CareChex 2022 Quality Awards
Rapides Regional Medical Center was recognized in several categories for patient care in the 2022 Quality Awards from CareChex, a division of Quantros. In Medical Excellence, RRMC ranked in the Top 100 in the nation in Coronary Bypass Surgery and Gall Bladder Removal, and it ranked in the Top 10 percent nationally in those categories along with Hip Fracture Care. In addition, CareChex ranked RRMC No. 1 in the state in Coronary Bypass Surgery. Other categories RRMC ranked in the Top 10 percent in the state were Cancer Care and Major Cardiac Surgery. In Patient Safety, RRMC ranked in the Top 100 nationally in Orthopedic Care, Pulmonary Care, Stroke Care and Women’s Health, and it ranked in the Top 10 percent nationally in those categories along with Cancer Care, Gall Bladder Removal and Heart Failure Treatment. RRMC also ranked in the Top 10 percent statewide in Overall Medical Care.
Healthgrades
Rapides Regional Medical Center has been recognized as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Vascular Care according to research by Healthgrades. This achievement reflects RRMC’s outstanding clinical outcomes for vascular surgery and places it among the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide for vascular surgery. Healthgrades also honored RRMC for providing five-star care in repair of abdominal aorta, carotid procedures, hip fracture treatment and diabetic emergencies. We were also a recipient of the Vascular Surgery Excellence Award.
2021 Get With The Guidelines® Stroke - Gold Plus
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association recognizes this hospital for achieving 85% or higher compliance with all Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Achievement Measures and 75% or higher compliance with five or more Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Quality Measures for two or more consecutive years and achieving Time to Thrombolytic Therapy < 60 minutes 50% or more of applicable acute ischemic stroke patients to improve quality of patient care and outcomes.
Trauma Reverification
Rapides Regional Medical Center is a verified Level II Trauma Center by the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons. The Rapides Regional Trauma Center was the first of its kind in Louisiana when it opened in 2011, and is the only verified trauma center in Central Louisiana.
Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence NICU Award
Rapides Regional Medical Center is pleased to be named a Guardian of Excellence Award winner by Press Ganey. The Guardian of Excellence Award recognizes top-performing health care organizations that have scored in the 95th percentile or higher in Patient Experience. RRMC achieved this score for patient experience in its Newborn Intensive Care Unit.
Louisiana Birth Ready Designation
Rapides Women’s and Children’s Hospital has received Louisiana’s Birth Ready Designation by the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative (LaPQC). This designation was created in an effort to recognize participating facilities and to create a system of sustained evidence-based change. Hospitals who receive the designation are known for consistent, thoughtful healthcare improvement work. The Birth Ready designation also celebrates improved perinatal outcomes and safe, equitable and dignified birth for all birthing persons.
Units of Distinction
Launched in 2014, the Unit of Distinction Awards are an essential component of HCA’s multifaceted Excellence in Nursing plan. Each year, Rapides has had multiple nursing units honored for excellence in patient care.
Accreditations and Certifications
Advanced Certification in Stroke (Primary Stroke Center)
The Joint Commission has developed an advanced level of certification for programs that must meet the requirements for Disease-Specific Care Certification plus additional, clinically-specific requirements and expectations. This certification improves the quality of care provided to patients, demonstrates a commitment to a higher standard of service, provides a framework for organizational structure and management, provides a competitive edge in the marketplace, enhances staff recruitment and development, and is recognized by insurers and other third parties.
American College of Surgeons Verified Trauma Center
This hospital is verified as a Level II Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). A Level II Trauma Center provides the second highest level of surgical care to trauma patients. The ACS does not designate trauma centers; instead, it verifies the presence of the resources listed in Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient.
CAP Laboratory Accreditation
The CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program is an internationally recognized program and the only one of its kind that utilizes teams of practicing laboratory professionals as inspectors. Designed to go well beyond regulatory compliance, the program helps laboratories achieve the highest standards of excellence to positively impact patient care. The program is based on rigorous accreditation standards that are translated into detailed and focused checklist requirements. The checklists, which provide a quality practice blueprint for laboratories to follow, are used by the inspection teams as a guide to assess the overall management and operation of the laboratory.
Certified Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
The American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) certification demonstrates that this hospital's program is aligned with current guidelines as approved by the AACVPR for the appropriate and effective early outpatient care of patients with cardiac or pulmonary issues. Certified AACVPR programs are recognized as leaders in the field of cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation because they offer the most advanced practices available.
Chest Pain Center Certification
This hospital has received Chest Pain Certification from The Joint Commission. The Joint Commission requirements for certification address three areas: Compliance with consensus-based national standards; effective and consistent use of appropriate, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for Acute Myocardial Infarction and Acute Coronary Syndrome patient populations; and collection and analysis of a minimum of four performance measures specific to the chest pain patient population. A minimum of two performance measures must be clinical in nature.
Computed Tomography Accreditation
The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures, and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report they can use for continuous practice improvement.
Mammography Accreditation
The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures, and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report they can use for continuous practice improvement.
MRI Accreditation
The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures, and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report they can use for continuous practice improvement.
Nuclear Medicine Accreditation
The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures, and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report they can use for continuous practice improvement.
The Commission on Cancer Accreditation
The Commission on Cancer (CoC) Accreditation Program encourages hospitals, treatment centers, and other facilities to improve their quality of patient care through various cancer-related programs. These programs focus on prevention, early diagnosis, pretreatment evaluation, staging, optimal treatment, rehabilitation, surveillance for recurrent disease, support services, and end-of-life care. The availability of a full range of medical services along with a multidisciplinary team approach to patient care at accredited cancer programs has resulted in approximately 80 percent of all newly diagnosed cancer patients being treated in CoC-accredited cancer programs.
The Joint Commission National Quality Approval
This hospital has earned The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval® for accreditation by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission's national standards for health care quality and safety in hospitals. The accreditation award recognizes this hospital's dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission's state-of-the-art standards.
Vascular Testing Accreditation
Accreditation by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) means that this hospital has undergone a thorough review of its operational and technical components by a panel of experts. The IAC grants accreditation only to those facilities that are found to be providing quality patient care, in compliance with national standards through a comprehensive application process including detailed case study review. IAC accreditation is a “seal of approval” that patients can rely on as an indication that the facility has been carefully critiqued on all aspects of its operations considered relevant by medical experts in the field of Vascular Testing.