The year 2016 was one of the most significant in the 150-year history of Reading Health System – in terms of upgrading aging facilities, enhancing clinical performance and patient experience, refortifying financial strength and achieving recognition, both nationally and locally, for the superior level of quality care that Reading Health delivers on a daily basis.
In 2016, we opened the Reading HealthPlex for Advanced Surgical & Patient Care; a state of art facility – superior to virtually any other in our region – that will usher in a new era of healthcare for the citizens and employers of Berks County.
With its 24 surgical suites, 16 expanded emergency treatment rooms, five trauma bays, a Helipad and 150 all-private patient rooms, the 476,000-square foot HealthPlex enables us to continually move medicine forward in Berks County.
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The year 2016 has been one of the most significant in the 150-year history of Reading Health System.
In 2016, we reached major milestones that enhance our ability to meet patients’ needs and further our mission of advancing health and transforming lives. We also strengthened our strategic focus on clinical and organizational excellence. Today, we are better positioned than ever to serve our patients and the community for decades to come.
Reading HealthPlex for Advanced Surgical & Patient Care
Most notably, in 2016 we opened the state-of-the-art Reading HealthPlex for Advanced Surgical & Patient Care, which is ushering in a new era of healthcare for citizens and employers in Berks County. The 476,000-square-foot HealthPlex combines advanced technology, leading-edge design and surroundings that promote healing. The new space and its capabilities enhance the care that our experienced, compassionate physicians and staff provide every day.
The HealthPlex combines Reading Hospital’s many surgical services into one of the most sophisticated surgical centers in the region, and significantly expands the existing Emergency Department and Trauma Center. The 24 surgical suites, 16 expanded emergency treatment rooms and five trauma bays in the lower levels of the building opened in October 2016.
Five upper levels with a total of 150 private patient rooms opened in early 2017. The HealthPlex also features an 88,000-square-foot green roof, the largest in Pennsylvania and third largest in the United States. It provides patients and visitors with views of — and access to — this beautiful natural space.
We are proud of the HealthPlex, because it helps us provides world-class healthcare services, right here in Berks County. Thoughtful consideration was given to every inch of the facility — from advanced operating rooms to quiet spaces — with the patient, the patient’s family and healing in mind. The result is a facility that will enable us to care for the community for generations to come.
In addition to the transformative impact of the HealthPlex, Reading Health also flourished with even more momentous achievements in 2016.
Magnet® Designation for Nursing Excellence
Led by our extraordinary team of 2,600 nursing professionals, Reading Hospital became one of only 442 hospitals worldwide to achieve Magnet® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for nursing excellence and quality patient outcomes.
Given by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), Magnet designation indicates to patients that the hospital offers a safe environment with excellent patient outcomes. Research shows that Magnet hospitals achieve a high level of patient satisfaction and patient safety, foster a collaborative work environment, and attract and retain top talent. That’s because nurses and physicians want to work in a healthy and engaging environment.
Our achievement of Magnet designation was many years in the making, and it was realized through the hard work and unwavering support of employees throughout the hospital, physicians, board members, and Reading Hospital and Reading Health System leadership.
National Recognition for Clinical Excellence
Our commitment to clinical excellence resulted in considerable external recognition, including receiving Healthgrades’ America’s 100 Best Hospitals Award™ in October 2016, a distinction that places Reading Hospital in the top 2 percent of hospitals across the country, and being named by U.S. News & World Report as the eighth best hospital in Pennsylvania.
Examples of other recognition include:
In Orthopedics, we were named by ProPublica as the number one hospital in Pennsylvania for knee and hip replacements.
We have grown exponentially in Oncology, now treating 2,000 patients a year, as our McGlinn Cancer Institute has enhanced its reputation as a center for comprehensive cancer care.
In Neuroscience Services, we have received Healthgrades’ Stroke Care Excellence Award for 10 consecutive years.
We are proud of the recognition we have received. We are even prouder of our staff’s unending dedication to continuous improvement — a critical step on the road to clinical excellence. At every level of our organization, we take a thorough, strategic approach to evaluating and enhancing our processes and procedures in order to improve care and services for patients and our community.
Improved Patient Experience for Four Consecutive Years
At Reading Health System, everything we do centers around the patient experience. That focus has led to patient experience scores steadily improving, with 71 percent of patients ranking their Reading experience at the highest satisfaction level in 2016 – up from 65 percent the year before. The prestigious Leapfrog Group has cited us as one of 98 U.S. hospitals offering the highest patient safety and quality care.
Our continuous improvement work directly enhances the patient experience. For example, in our Emergency Department — the busiest in the state — we decreased the amount of time a patient spends in the ER by 90 minutes, which represents a 25 percent reduction in wait time. How did we do it? Through teamwork across departments that carefully evaluate every aspect of an emergency patient’s care, and by implementing solutions that improved the efficiency and effectiveness of how patients move through the system.
In 2016, we launched a marketing campaign that highlights “101 Reasons Why” Reading Health is the provider of choice for so many families. Even as the nation’s healthcare environment continues to change, we remain committed to a “patients first” philosophy.
Our Commitment to the Community
Our dedication to the Berks County community remains resolute. Over the past six years, we have committed nearly $1 billion in unreimbursed direct patient care, professional education and clinical research, and community health improvement.
Our commitment to the community is evident in numerous ways. We have invested in our future through our new state-of-the-art HealthPlex. We remain financially strong even after the HealthPlex expenditure, and last year we made great strides to fortify our financial strength.
Adding to our strength and reputation, at year-end, we announced an agreement with UPMC Health Plan to form a provider-payer joint venture that combines Reading Health System’s high-quality clinical care, expert providers and advanced healthcare facilities with UPMC Health Plan’s extensive payer experience and expertise.
In 2016, we also unveiled the newly established Reading Health System Foundation, which enables community leaders to help support local healthcare for the future.
In 2017, our community focus turns to addressing the primary community health needs revealed in a comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment we undertook with other leading Berks County organizations. We will use the results of this assessment to initiate programs that focus on three community health priorities — obesity, substance addiction and mental health.
Together with our local partners, Reading Health is advancing health and transforming lives. We are better positioned than any time in our history to meet the healthcare needs of our community — not only today, but for generations to come.
Brent Wagner
Chairman, Board of Directors
Clint Matthews
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Reading HealthPlex for Advanced Surgical & Patient Care can be summarized in four words, “Advancing Health. Transforming Lives.”
This state-of-the-art facility, which opened in October 2016, is moving medicine forward and dramatically enhancing patient care in Berks County. The $346 million HealthPlex combines advanced technology, leading-edge facility design and surroundings that promote healing — all of which enhance the highly skilled, compassionate care our physicians and staff provide.
Today, Reading Health has the capacity to address patients’ needs in an environment designed to accommodate each unique situation — whether we’re performing complex surgery or a minor surgical procedure, offering life-saving trauma care or emergency services, or providing inpatient or outpatient care.
Reading HealthPlex
A quick look at how the HealthPlex has been constructed for the future.
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The HealthPlex strengthens our ability to provide leading-edge healthcare. What makes this facility so exceptional? Here are just a few examples:
The HealthPlex has 24 state-of-the-art surgical suites, including six hybrid-capable operating rooms that enable surgeons to proceed from medical imaging to surgery in the same room.
Robotic platforms are used to help perform the most complex and delicate procedures with precision.
Eight procedure rooms, separate from the surgical area, are specifically designed for performing procedures such as bronchoscopy, endoscopy, stereotactic and lithotripsy procedures.
To complement Pennsylvania’s busiest Emergency Department, we’ve created 16 new Emergency Department treatment rooms. The treatment area includes a 64-slice CT scanner for advanced imaging for patients with traumatic illnesses, stroke and other potentially life-threatening injuries and illnesses.
Adjacent to the Emergency Department, we’ve added five new trauma bays and operating rooms to provide critical care with minimal transport.
Our 150 private patient rooms, which opened in early 2017, are equipped to allow patients to remain in the same location, even when different levels of medical services are needed.
Decentralized nursing stations sit in front of patient rooms, optimizing communications and accessibility between caregivers and patients.
The HealthPlex is the culmination of 10 years of deliberation, discussion and analysis by Reading Health leaders, and represents the collaboration of more than 200 physicians and employees who helped design the space.
The end result is a healthcare center designed with the patient in mind — a facility that provides a vast array of medical services, uses the most-advanced technology available, maximizes comfort and care for patients and their families, and boosts efficiency and effectiveness. That’s because the space and process flows have been designed with input from the people who know what works best — our staff and physicians on the front line.
While the advanced care available at the HealthPlex is vitally important, so too is the therapeutic nature of the space, which creates a calm, tranquil environment that promotes healing and family comfort.
Our 88,000-square-foot green roof — the largest on any healthcare building in Pennsylvania and third largest in the United States — includes a healing garden and offers a natural environment beyond the traditional hospital setting. The green roof also saves energy by providing greater insulation.
The HealthPlex enhances our ability to respond to the ever-changing healthcare environment in the United States, and fortifies our ability to serve the community for many years to come.
In August 2016, Reading Hospital proudly received Magnet® designation, the most prestigious distinction a healthcare organization can receive for nursing excellence and quality patient outcomes.
Led by our extraordinary 2,600 nursing professionals, we became one of only 442 hospitals worldwide to have achieved the designation, which is given by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
Magnet has become integral to the way we care for patients and do business. And our designation is helpful to patients, because it indicates that the hospital offers a safe environment with excellent patient outcomes.
Research shows that Magnet hospitals:
Achieve higher levels of patient safety and patient satisfaction.
Foster a more collaborative work environment.
Attract and retain high-quality nursing and physician talent, because nurses and physicians want to work in a healthy and engaging environment.
Reading Hospital embarked on its journey to Magnet excellence five years ago, with a passion to build on its strong nursing tradition and a practice model that we call True North, named after the North Star. Just as the North Star provides clear navigational direction to travelers, Reading Hospital’s True North provides direction for navigating the journey to nursing excellence.
Over several years, we implemented strategic changes in processes and procedures to incorporate the Magnet model to improve performance. We redesigned our approach to care delivery; improved inter-professional collaboration and team building; emphasized nurse engagement, recognition, professional development and retention; and, strengthened the involvement of our nurses in the community.
In early 2016, we submitted the extensive documentation that Magnet demands, and several months later, ANCC conducted a site visit to assess our system’s performance. In August, ANCC notified Reading Health that it had unanimously voted to approve Reading Hospital as a Magnet organization.
Our nurses are singularly devoted to providing professional and compassionate care to every patient. The hospital achieved Magnet designation with the unwavering support of health system and hospital leaders, board members, physicians, nurses and departments throughout the hospital. At Reading Health, our quest for excellence continues every day.
It is who we are.
The Magnet model shapes our culture of excellence and helps our staff develop the skill sets that are needed to problem solve and develop creative solutions:
In 2016, Reading Hospital launched a new model to improve diabetic education and outcomes, and received a Health Resources & Services Administration grant to fund five diabetes educators.
We initiated several multidisciplinary nursing teams to improve processes and workflows throughout our system. One successful initiative led to earlier mobilization of patients, which, in turn, has reduced the risk of infection, improved patients’ functionality and reduced their length of stay in the hospital.
Our emphasis on relationship-based care resulted in maternity care enhancements, including redesigned family-friendly waiting rooms, the addition of comfortable family sleeper sofas in rooms in the Mother-Baby Unit, and inter-professional huddles twice daily to facilitate team communication and care planning.
Another area of focus has been evidence-based practice and research to elevate the level of patient care, nursing practice and the practice environment. We also have introduced new professional development programs grounded in evidence-based curriculum, and encourage career advancement.
This award places Reading Health among the top 5% of hospitals in the nation for clinical performance across 27 common conditions and procedures.
50 of the greenest hospitals in America
Healthcare’s Most Wired
Diversified Clinical Services
American Society of Bariatric Surgery
The Joint Commission
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
American College of Radiology’s Commission on Quality and Safety and the Commission on Breast Imaging
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International Lactation Consultants Association
As Reading Health System begins a new year, we have once again — for the fourth year in a row — been named a recipient of Healthgrades’ Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. We also received Healthgrades’ America’s 100 Best Hospitals Award™, a distinction that places Reading Hospital in the top 2 percent of hospitals across the country based on superior-quality outcomes.
Reading Health is focused on enhancing clinical excellence. At every level of our organization, we take a thorough, strategic approach to evaluating and enhancing our processes and procedures in order to improve care and services for patients and our community. As a result, our reputation for clinical excellence continues to grow.
One indication of this growing reputation is that our census volumes are increasing. More patients are seeking our care, particularly in the surgical areas. Last year, admissions increased 9 percent year-over-year, compared to an increase of 6 percent in the previous year.
Demand for Reading Health’s signature clinical services has never been higher. For example:
In Oncology, our McGlinn Cancer Institute now provides comprehensive cancer care to 2,000 patients. We also offer access to clinical research trials used at the nation’s foremost cancer centers. Last year, about 10 percent of our oncology patients participated in nationally recognized clinical trials. We have expedited the process to admit newly diagnosed patients, now averaging three-to-five days after a patient’s initial appointment. The assistance of Nurse Navigators — registered nurses with extensive experience in oncology care — has enhanced McGlinn’s compassionate cancer care, and has helped educate patients and ease their burden.
In Neuroscience Services, we have invested heavily to expand our technological and clinical capabilities in order to care for patients with neurological and neurosurgical issues. We have bolstered the program by hiring specialists in areas such as neurological intensive care, vascular neurosurgery, movement disorders and epilepsy. Our Certified Advanced Primary Stroke Center has received numerous awards for excellence and has earned National Quality Approval from The Joint Commission.
We continue to augment our medical and surgical strengths such as Cardiology and Orthopedics. We have achieved recognition among Healthgrades’ 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care, earning its Cardiac Care Excellence Award for three consecutive years, and we were named by ProPublica as the #1 hospital in Pennsylvania for knee and hip replacements. Last year, we performed nearly 1,000 joint replacements.
In 2016, Reading Health engaged six internal Clinical Effectiveness Teams to evaluate specific areas of care that would benefit from analysis and potential process changes. The multidisciplinary teams’ work dramatically improved these processes in ways that decreased patients’ length of stay, improved staff efficiency and, most importantly, improved the quality of patient care. For example, a Sepsis Clinical Effectiveness Team evaluated ways to drive early identification and treatment of sepsis. The team’s clinical improvements led to a significant reduction in sepsis patients’ length of stay and hospital costs related to sepsis treatment.
This past year, Reading Health increased the scope of its Patient Safety Ambassador Recognition Program, which was initiated in late 2015. The program recognizes employees who notice and report safety concerns related to patient care. The reports are used to develop system improvements; this initiative has increased employee reporting, strengthened our culture of safety, and provided opportunities for Reading Health to proactively identify and implement risk-reduction solutions.
At the core of our clinical excellence is a deep commitment from our caregivers — and an understanding among our patients — that we value our patients as individuals. That commitment is reflected in the personalized care each patient receives.
As much as 2016 was a milestone year, the year ahead promises to be one of even greater progress. With the HealthPlex fully online and our significant investments in equipment, technology and staff paying significant dividends in terms of performance, we are confident that Reading Health System will continue to advance its role as a trusted community resource for clinical quality, patient safety and overall excellence in healthcare.
At Reading Health System, we are keenly focused on improving patient experience. Why? Because a satisfied patient is a healthier patient. This continued organizational focus has led to improved service, and thus, steadily increasing patient-experience evaluations:
According to year-end 2016 data from Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, 71 percent of our patients awarded us the highest ratings of 9 and 10 on their satisfaction evaluations — up from 65 percent the year before.
The same data indicate continuous year-over-year progress in the key areas of communication with nurses and doctors — with both categories increasing by 6 percent, so that about 80 percent satisfaction levels were achieved.
In late 2015, the prestigious Leapfrog Group cited us as one of 98 U.S. hospitals offering the highest patient safety and quality care. Reading Hospital also was named a Top Urban Hospital Award winner, and was the only one named in the state.
In 2016, Verras’ Medical Value Index™ ranked us one of the 10 Best Value Hospitals in Pennsylvania.
Our improvement in patient experience metrics has resulted from a concerted effort to encourage a patient-centric culture, to listen to patients and to promote an internal standard of care that permeates our system. In 2016, we continued this initiative through educational, motivational and recognition programs for employees, as well as with the support of community advisory councils. The councils are comprised of community volunteers and Reading Health representatives who work together to enhance our patient- and family-centered healthcare.
Internally, employee teams throughout the system are dedicated to optimizing the Reading Experience for every patient. In 2016, we continued to follow the AIDET formula:
Acknowledging patients with a smile,
Introducing ourselves,
Being conscious of the Duration of waiting times and delays,
Explaining our processes, and,
Thanking patients for their trust.
We also regularly honored employees who embraced our No Pass Zone philosophy, which encourages employees to stop and help patients or visitors who may need assistance.
Nowhere is our focus on the patient experience more evident than at the Reading HealthPlex for Advanced Surgical & Patient Care, which offers advanced, world-class services right here in Berks County.
The HealthPlex was built with patient comfort and healing in mind. All of the 150 patient rooms are private, which enables patients to convalesce in a comfortable environment that promotes healing. Family areas adjacent to patient rooms are convenient for patients’ families.
Patient rooms in the HealthPlex and in other areas of Reading Health now are equipped with the GetWellNetwork, an interactive patient-education system that provides patients with medical information as well as entertainment options such as movies and Internet access. Patients and their families like the easy-to-use network because it helps them better understand their condition, enhances their communication with nurses and staff, and empowers them to make decisions that are best for their health and well-being.
One of the best measures of patient satisfaction lies in the words of patients themselves. One patient who was discharged from Reading Health Rehabilitation Hospital wrote on social media, “These individuals were the kindest people I ever met. They take amazing care of their patients…10/10 ratings on all levels.”
Patients have entrusted us with their care, and we will continue to work to ensure they have a positive Reading Experience.
Our core responsibility at Reading Health System is to improve the wellness of the community we serve. We deliver on that responsibility in many ways:
We annually provide more than $150 million in direct patient care, including unreimbursed Medicare, Medicaid and uncompensated charity care.
We sponsor about $3.5 million in free community healthcare services such as flu shots, cancer screening, medications, medical equipment and transportation assistance.
We provide about $700,000 in community health education, including CPR training, support groups and worksite health education.
We sponsor professional education and clinical research, which support our residency programs, and medical library and continuing medical education programs, which are available to all community physicians. We also provide nursing and other health professional education in the community.
Over the past six years, we have committed nearly $1 billion to the community in the form of unreimbursed patient care, professional education and clinical research, and community health improvements.
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Our focus on community wellness is consistent with Reading Health’s century-old mission to provide quality care, promote access to care and manage healthcare costs for the entire community. That’s one reason we developed our clinically integrated physician network, Reading Health Partners, which has grown to about 350 employed physicians who provide care in more than 50 practice locations.
In 2016, we also entered into a provider-payer joint venture with UPMC Health Plan. It combines access to Reading Health’s high-quality clinical care, expert providers and advanced healthcare facilities with UPMC Health Plan’s insurance experience, expertise and advanced analytics to improve health outcomes. This unique partnership has introduced a full spectrum of health coverage choices and related services to individuals, employers and their employees, and helps ensure that our community continues to enjoy high-quality healthcare services at an affordable cost for years to come.
We are tremendously grateful for the boundless generosity of our caring community, which supports Reading Health in so many important ways:
Last year, our 160 Reading Health Volunteers donated 670 total hours, working side-by-side with full-time staffers to serve patients and their families.
For more than a century, members of The Friends of Reading Hospital have worked passionately to contribute their time and talents to improve community health through cherished fundraising events such as the Garden Party and Tower Ball. How are donations used? Here’s just one example: To date, The Friends of Reading Hospital has invested more than $800,000 in HeartSAFE Berks County, an initiative that has placed more than 500 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the community and has also helped educate people on how to use the device to save the life of a cardiac arrest victim.
In 2016, Reading Health helped complete the Berks County Community Health Needs Assessment, which is conducted every three years. Partnering with Berks County Community Foundation, United Way of Berks County, Berks Community Health Center and Penn State Health St. Joseph, we used data and interviews with 1,000 adults in Berks County to determine the most-prevalent community health needs in the county.
After evaluating data and interview information, the assessment team identified three community health priorities as well as important factors that impact health and wellness. Together as a community, we will work to address these three high-priority community health concerns — obesity, addiction and mental health. We also will work to ensure that all residents have access to care. For each of these health priorities, we will implement strategic plans that include health programs and educational activities, and together, we will measure performance as we evaluate our progress.
As we look to the coming year, one thing is certain: Reading Health System will not waver as a leader committed to improving health and wellness in our community. We look forward to working with our partners to achieve meaningful results.
Fiscal Year 2016
Our core responsibility is to protect, improve and sustain the wellness of the community we serve. Carrying out that reasonability means reinvesting resources in the community in many forms – from providing free health services, to screenings and immunizations, to organizing the community to address emerging health needs, to employees donating their time to Berks County nonprofit organizations. Last year, those investments in community initiatives totaled more than $170 million.
Our flagship facility, licensed for 647 acute care beds, is a 22-building complex on 36 suburban acres in West Reading, Pa., and home to many of the finest specialty care centers in the region.
Our state-of-the-art facility for rehabilitation medicine and the only hospital in the region accredited by both the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities and The Joint Commission.
Consists of more than 350 physicians and healthcare providers delivering both primary and specialty care. They provide the most advanced medical care available from board-certified and fellowship trained physicians.
The first clinically integrated organization in Berks County, bringing together Reading Health System and 675 physicians representing 50 specialties. This partnership enables delivery of efficient, higher quality, more cost-effective care that is truly physician-driven and patient-centric.
Offers residential apartments and villas, personal care, and skilled nursing and rehabilitation in a 113-acre lifecare and continuing care retirement community.
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