About BWMC
Quality/Awards
Quality at BWMC
Baltimore Washington Medical Center is committed to providing you and your family great care at all times. Because we believe it's important to inform you about the treatment you'd be receiving here, we have provided links to various Web sites that routinely provide information to consumers about the quality of care in hospitals.
The Joint Commission Quality Check
Maryland Hospital Performance Evaluation Guide
United States Department of Health & Human Services Hospital Compare
If you have a question, concern or suggestion about your care at BWMC, please call our Quality Improvement Department at 410-787-4730.
Please note that the mandatory data reported to each of these sites may be different, resulting in different scores and ratings, and may measure different time periods.
Awards
August 2012: Baltimore Washington Medical Center has received the American College of Cardiology Foundation's NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2012 – one of only 164 hospitals nationwide to do so. The award recognizes BWMC's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients, and signifies that the medical 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.
July 2012: Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Maryland, has awarded the 2012 Delmarva Foundation Excellence Award for Quality Improvement to Baltimore Washington Medical Center (BWMC). The award honors individual hospitals that excel in patient safety and quality improvement. To receive the Delmarva Foundation Excellence Award, the hospital must meet specific performance improvement criteria on 18 measures in four national inpatient clinical areas: acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, surgical care improvement and pneumonia.
March 2010: Baltimore Washington Medical Center has been designated by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery and a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement. The distinctions are awarded by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies to medical facilities that have demonstrated expertise in delivering quality healthcare in several areas including spine surgery and knee and hip replacement. BWMC is one of 14 hospitals out of 52 in Maryland to earn the hip and knee distinction and one of 11 in the State to receive the spine surgery distinction.
In its 74th year, CareFirst, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a not-for-profit health care organization which, through its affiliates and subsidiaries, offers a comprehensive portfolio of health insurance products and administrative services to 3.4 million individuals and groups in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. Through its CareFirst Commitment initiative and other public mission activities, CareFirst supports efforts to increase the accessibility, affordability, safety and quality of health care throughout its market areas.
Note: Designation as Blue Distinction Centers means these facilities’ overall experience and aggregate data met objective criteria established in collaboration with expert clinicians’ and leading professional organizations’ recommendations. Individual outcomes may vary. To find out which services are covered under your policy at any facilities, please call your local Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Plan.
July 2009: U.S. News & World Report ranked BWMC as one of America's Best Hospitals in the country for neurology/neurosurgery (43rd) and digestive disorders (43rd). BWMC was one of 174 hospitals that scored high enough to be ranked in 16 specialties. The rankings are based on reputation, death rate, patient safety, and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. Only the 50 highest hospitals were ranked in each category.
April 2009: The Aiello Breast Center at Baltimore Washington Medical Center received national accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). The NAPBC, administered by the American College of Surgeons, is a consortium of national, professional organizations dedicated to improving the quality of care and monitoring of outcomes of patients with breast diseases. It began surveying breast programs for accreditation in September 2008. Also, the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer recently reapproved Baltimore Washington Medical Center as a "Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Program." The approval, which lasts for three years, signifies the medical center has met or exceeded a standard set of requirements for multidisciplinary and quality cancer care.
February 2009: HealthGrades, an independent health care rating organization, ranked Baltimore Washington Medical Center in the top 5% of hospitals nationwide for clinical quality in a recent national study. The organization named BWMC a "2009 Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence" after the study reviewed hospitals' overall performance. BWMC was one of 270 community hospitals out of the 4,919 nationwide to receive the honor.
November 2008: The American College of Cardiology Foundation awarded Baltimore Washington Medical Center with the NCDR ACTION Registry-GWTG Silver Performance Achievement Award for 2008. BWMC was one of only 93 hospitals nationwide and four in Maryland to receive the honor. The award recognizes Baltimore Washington Medical Center's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. It also signifies that BWMC has reached an aggressive goal of treating coronary artery disease patients with 85% compliance to core standard levels of care outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association.
June 2007: The BWI Partnership, Inc. names Baltimore Washington Medical Center the 2007 Employer of the Year for its award-winning contributions as a comprehensive health care provider and for its expanding presence throughout the Baltimore-Washington area.
May 2007: The Maryland Institute for Emergency Services Systems designates Baltimore Washington Medical Center as a Primary Stroke Center, allowing the medical center to provide life-saving treatment to patients who may have suffered a stroke.
April 2007: Became a smoke-free campus.
March 2007: BWMC is named one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals by Thomson Reuters, a leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of healthcare. BWMC was the only hospital in Maryland and the District of Columbia to receive this award, which recognizes hospitals that have achieved excellence in clinical outcomes, patient safety, financial performance, efficiency and growth on patient volume.
November 2006: Baltimore Washington Medical Center ranks in the top 16% of 200 hospitals nationwide for its quality of care in five areas: pneumonia, total hip replacement, ischemic stroke, heart failure and medically managed myocardial infarction/heart attack. The ranking allows BWMC to receive the "CareScience Select Practice Customer Quality Leaders Award" - a quality award given by CareScience to member hospitals with outstanding care.