Officials and employees of Athens-Limestone Hospital are celebrating a four-star rating published by Hospital Compare, a consumer-oriented website that provides information on how well each hospital provides recommended care to its patients.

David Pryor, chief executive officer and president of Athens-Limestone Hospital, said the latest rating was a marked improvement over its previous two-star rating, issued two years ago. Information for the latest rating was compiled through February.

Pryor said he didn’t feel the two-star rating reflected what the hospital and staff were accomplishing, so concerted efforts were made to improve it. When asked what particular areas the hospital worked to improve, Pryor said “a handful” of issues, including reducing patient falls, were identified. He explained improving patient safety is the hospital’s primary goal.

“Patients get injured in hospitals as much as anywhere else,” he said. “People dealing with injuries are obviously at risk for falls.”

The hospital worked on reducing falls using strategic breakthrough initiatives. Pryor said goals were set, data was collected and — three months later — the goal had been achieved.

“By July, we had an entire month with zero falls,” he said. “We maintained that level and by November, we had another zero-fall month.”

Pryor said the hospital has been so successful with its fall prevention steps, it was recognized by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alabama Performance Excellence Program. He said hospital officials would give a presentation about their efforts in April at a seminar in Tuscaloosa.

“For us, this means the leadership and every staff member and volunteer who participates in health care is committed to the highest quality of care for our patients,” Pryor said. “It validates our commitment to the community and to each other to work every day to get better.”

About the rating

The five-star rating system was developed by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and there are a number of metrics that go into establishing a score. The overall rating is comprised of many quality measures in the following categories:

• Safety of Care and Mortality: How likely it is that patients have complications in the hospital after specific surgical procedures and how often patients died within 30 days of being in the hospital for certain conditions;

• Readmissions: When patients return to the hospital after their initial stay and how long they spend back in the hospital;

• Timeliness and Effectiveness of Care: How often or how quickly hospitals give treatment known to give the best results to patients with specific common conditions;

• Patient Experience: How patients recently discharged from the hospital respond to a survey about their hospital experience;

• Effective Use of Medical Imaging: How a hospital uses outpatient medical imaging tests; and

• Payment and Value of Care: How payments made for patients treated at the hospital compare to all hospitals across the nation, as well as the value of care provided by the hospital.

The star rating is updated twice a year in a public preview report. To view reports, visit www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare.