The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) received the Rising Star Award at the annual meeting of the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) held September 13-14, 2012, in Orlando, FL, along with Duke University Hospital, Shands Jacksonville Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic. Rising Star Award winners moved up 20 or more spots in the UHC Quality and Accountability Study rankings since last year.  Unlike other rankings of “top” hospitals such as U.S. News or HealthGrades, which rely at least in part on subjective assessments of reputation, UHC relies solely on objective data and analysis of patient outcomes. MUSC ranked particularly high in safety (fourth) and patient centeredness (eighth). Key measures assessed for safety were postsurgical complications and bloodstream infections. Physician and nurse communication, pain management, cleanliness, and staff responsiveness all factored into scoring for patient centeredness.

UHC is an alliance of the nation’s leading nonprofit academic medical centers, which are focused on delivering world-class patient care. Based in Chicago, Ill, UHC fosters collaboration with and among its 116 academic medical center and 276 affiliated hospital members through its renowned programs and services in the areas of comparative data and analytics, performance improvement, supply chain management, strategic research, and public policy. UHC helps its members achieve excellence in quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Formed in 1984, UHC’s membership includes a majority of the nonprofit academic medical centers in the United States.  For more information, visit uhc.edu.