Rambam ranked second place among hospitals in Israel in the provision of quality health care to patients, according to data from the Israeli Ministry of Health's National Quality Indicators Program published last week.
Doctors performing a brain
catheterization at Rambam.
Photography: Pioter Fliter
According to the results presented at the Conference of Transparency in Healthcare, attended by senior healthcare officials in Israel, Rambam received an average rating of 93.9 in nine assessments that examined the quality of medical care among public hospitals in the country. In addition to this high score, results revealed that Rambam, the largest hospital in the north, also improved its ratings within additional parameters—a difficult undertaking for a medical center that alos serves as a level one trauma hospital treating some of the most challenging and complicated cases in the region. Rambam is also one of only five hospitals in Israel to have successfully met all targets set by the Ministry of Health in each of the nine assessments.
The public hospital assessment program was initiated in 2012 as part of the Health Ministry's hospital reform efforts, which increase in scope every year. The most recent report disclosed the results of assessments carried out between 2013-2016 in public hospitals, geriatric hospitals, and mental health hospitals. This year, for the first time, results from infant care and emergency care assessments were also published. The indicators measured in public hospitals are based on acute cardiac cases, acute brain events, prevention of infection, and measurements related to surgery scheduling.
Rambam successfully met all targets set by the Ministry of Health with an above average score, even excelling in certain assessments. When compared to other large hospitals, Rambam leads in the time it takes to perform a CT scan with an average time of 25 minutes, while the standard set by the Ministry of Health is 30 minutes. In performing a risk assessment for venous thrombosis, Rambam also leads among hospitals of the same size and is at the top of the list with a 99% success rate.
In TPA treatment, a life-saving therapy for stroke victims that dissolves blood clots within three and a half hours of event onset, Rambam treats more patients than any other major medical center in Israel (109 patients). The number of patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis combined with 8-hour brain catheterization at Rambam is the highest among all hospitals in Israel (27 patients) according to Israel Ministry of Health data. It is noteworthy that only 1,180 of the 12,000 stroke victims in Israel received these advanced treatments.
"Rambam has raised the banner of medical excellence," declared Professor Rafael Beyar, Director of Rambam. "For us it is not just a slogan but a proven daily practice. We work on all levels to provide our patients with the highest quality treatment while, at the same time, we are engaged in promoting and developing our capabilities to advance the Israeli health system. The data published by the Ministry of Health is another indication of the excellent work done by the staff of the largest hospital in the north where patients are at the center of all we do."
