Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), a community health system serving Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north communities, has been ranked as the number one hospital in Massachusetts (with an A grade) for Health Equity by the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank.
The Lown Institute Hospitals Index examined more than 3,600 hospitals using 54 metrics to evaluate equity, value and patient outcomes. This included data-driven assessments of community benefit spending, pay equity, inclusivity, avoiding overuse, cost efficiency, clinical outcomes, patient safety, and patient satisfaction.
The Health Equity rankings look at the key domains of Pay Equity, Community Benefit and Inclusivity. This includes the difference in compensation of hospital executives compared to healthcare workers without advanced degrees, the extent of hospital spending in community health, and the extent to which patients being served are demographically similar to those in the surrounding community. In addition to top honors for Health Equity, CHA earned A grades for “Inclusivity” (named the number two hospital in Massachusetts in this metric), “Social Responsibility,” “Community Benefit,” “Value of Care,” and “Avoiding Overuse.”
“Health equity is at the heart of our organizational mission and is foundational to our vision of achieving equity and excellence for everyone, every time.” said Assaad Sayah, MD, CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance. “This recognition validates that we are making a difference in the health of our patients and helping build a society where all our neighbors have access to outstanding health care, regardless of their backgrounds or needs.”
Founded in 1973 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Bernard Lown, MD, developer of the defibrillator and cardioverter, the Lown Institute believes that a radically better system of health is possible and generates bold ideas towards that goal. The Lown Hospitals Index, a signature project of the Institute, is the first ranking to assess the social responsibility of U.S. hospitals by applying measures never used before like racial inclusivity, avoidance of overuse, and pay equity.
• National Social Responsibility Grade: A
• National Health Equity Grade: A
• Top 100 in the Nation for Health Equity
• National Value of Care Grade: A
• National Community Benefit Grade: A
• National Inclusivity Grade: A
• Top 100 in the Nation for Inclusivity
• National Avoiding Overuse Grade: A
• #1 in Massachusetts for Health Equity