Hoag Hospital Makes List of Nation’s Best : Health: It’s called ‘a model’ by industry data processor and is the only O.C. facility in top 100.

Hoag Hospital was chosen as one of the nation’s top 100 medical centers, a Baltimore health care information processing firm said Wednesday.

A yearlong study by HCIA Inc., which analyzed financial and health data for the hospital industry, set out to demonstrate how hospitals concerned about federal health care reform can cut their own costs before the government does.

The study examined 5,600 hospitals in eight criteria, including hospital efficiency in areas including clinical practices, operations and financial management.

Using Medicare and other publicly available data--the organization did not inform the hospitals of its study--HCIA developed a scoring system that looked at how profitable the facilities were, their amount of debt, how long their patients were hospitalized on average, how fast the patients recovered, the number of subsequent infections and how much patients were charged.

While the report did not say where Hoag placed among the top 100 hospitals--they were listed alphabetically by state--HCIA identified Hoag as the only hospital among the 34 in Orange County to meet its criteria.

“We wanted to develop a database and identify the top hospitals so others could evaluate them and improve their own performance,” said HCIA Vice President Jean Chenoweth.

Newport Beach-based Hoag, which has 416 beds and contains specialized cancer, heart and fertility centers, was praised by Chenoweth as “a model” for hospitals.

Hoag spokeswoman Maureen Mazzatenta said that hospital administrators were thrilled to be named the best in the county by an independent organization.

The award, she added, bolsters the belief among employees of the 42-year-old, nonprofit hospital that they are operating a well-run medical center.

“We like to operate along those lines anyway,” Mazzatenta said. “The fact that we were named reinforces the philosophy we have. Efficiency is not just something we talk about, and it’s nice to see an outside group recognize that.”

Other California hospitals listed among the top 100 were: Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside, Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, Lakewood Regional Medical Center in Lakewood, Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia, El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, and Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina.