Improving patient care
Elevating the standards
of healthcare
We strive to put patients at the center of everything we do at HCA Healthcare. In pursuit of our goal to enhance patient care, we take a comprehensive approach to clinical quality. Across our organization, we integrate systems of care, leverage technology and robust data sets with the intention of consistently delivering high-quality care and providing a safe environment for our patients and colleagues.
Ricca Patterson, RN, consults with a surgery patient at Medical City Heart & Spine Hospital.
Eboney Wade, Environmental Services Technician, Menorah Medical Center
The pursuit of quality is a daily discipline at HCA Healthcare. A structured and interdisciplinary partnership across corporate, division and facility clinical leaders aligns focus and provides coordinated oversight.
Our Continued Survey Readiness Evaluation Team takes a proactive approach to evaluate and support clinical safety, quality, and regulatory performance at our hospitals. This team supports quality improvement while sharing best practices across our organization.
We prioritize feedback received from our care teams to help address safety concerns and develop action plans that improve patient safety, processes and patient outcomes at all facilities.
Nationally, leading institutions recognize HCA Healthcare facilities as top performers on key patient safety and quality measures.
- 93 HCA Healthcare hospitals were recognized in the top 10% in the nation for patient safety by Healthgrades’ 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Awards.
- 49 HCA Healthcare hospitals recognized on the 2025 Healthgrades America’s 250 Best Hospitals list
- 36 HCA Healthcare hospitals were recognized by Fortune/PINC AI as a 100 Top Hospital in 2024
- 13 HCA Healthcare hospitals were rated as CMS 5-Star Hospitals in the July 2024 release for highest level performance on readmissions, safety of care, patient experience, mortality, and timeliness of care
93
Hospitals recognized in the top 10%
in the nation for patient safety by Healthgrades’ 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Awards
36
Hospitals recognized
by Fortune/PINC AI
as a 100 Top Hospital
Leveraging our scale to improve patient care
In 2024, from our emergency care to specialty care services and beyond – we collaborated with care teams across our hospitals and facilities to help elevate quality, improve outcomes and share best practices in the pursuit of elevating patient care everywhere.
Enhancing emergency care
and the patient experience
In HCA Healthcare’s emergency rooms (ERs), our goal is to continually work toward enhancing the care patients receive across the organization.
Through our ER Revitalization Program, which we launched enterprise-wide in 2023 as a best practice, we strive to raise the bar for performance. The focus of the program is to create a differentiated patient experience through leadership excellence from HCA Healthcare nurses and physician ER leaders, and to strengthen our collaborative care approach across all clinical team members.
After our first year of implementing the ER Revitalization Program, we have seen improvement in the retention of our nurse leaders, engagement of our care team members, the efficiency of care delivered and the experience of our patients.
In 2024 82% of our ER patients on the Press Ganey Emergency Room survey said given the choice the likelihood of returning to an HCA Healthcare ER was good or very good.
*Data includes patients discharged between Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2024.
82%
of our ER patients on the Press Ganey Emergency Room Survey said that given the choice their likelihood of returning to an HCA Healthcare ER was good or very good.
30.2%
reduction of average time it takes for a patient to be seen by a qualified medical professional— from 12.4 minutes to 8.6 minutes
“The Revitalization Program came at a perfect time … we’re building a better team.”
Olugbenga “Ben” Dada,
Director of Emergency Services at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital
Olugbenga “Ben” Dada, director of Emergency Services at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, has seen firsthand the impact of the ER Revitalization Program in his facility. With 27 years of experience at HCA Healthcare, Olugbenga has guided his team through significant transformations, especially post-COVID. “The revitalization program came at the perfect time,” he reflects. The program provided a foundation for improvement, focusing on patient experience, safety and colleague engagement.
As a result, Kendall Hospital’s patient experience scores have steadily climbed, and is reaching the 75th percentile. Olugbenga credits this success to the strong collaboration between nurses and physicians, which has strengthened the overall quality of care.
Key to the program’s success was empowering the team with clear expectations and training, starting with even the smallest details like bed-making and patient room organization, to improve first impressions and ensure a high level of care.
One of the most impactful changes, Olugbenga noted, has been the introduction of a zoning system, where nurses are stationed in specific areas, making them more visible and accessible to patients. The zoning system has helped enhance care and safety by allowing nurses to respond more quickly to potential emergencies.
At HCA Healthcare, we analyze data from our more than 9 million emergency room patient encounters to help develop best practices to improve patient care across the enterprise and the larger healthcare community.
For example, many patients experiencing stroke symptoms come to our emergency rooms first. To help better prevent, treat and beat the potential clinical impacts of strokes, we are proud of our collaboration with the American Heart Association, in conjunction with the HCA Healthcare Foundation, to support the Getting to the Heart of Stroke initiative. 10 hospitals as part of Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ improved identification for cause of stroke upon discharge by 20%, up to 63%.
Our strategic partnerships with community organizations are designed to provide a greater impact in addressing key healthcare issues, such as providing high-quality care for our patients and improving access to care.
Learn more about our strategic collaborations in 2024 and see how our work is helping improve quality and health outcomes.
Delivering personalized patient care
Across HCA Healthcare’s facilities, we provide patient-focused solutions and resources in an effort to enhance access and lead to better outcomes. In 2024, HCA Healthcare patients accessed interpretation services in over 237 languages and dialects.
After the success of our inaugural Accessibility Awareness Lab in 2023, HCA Healthcare hosted three additional labs in 2024 that guided participants through 12 immersive stations, each simulating what it’s like to use different assistive technologies or to have a specific type of disability. In addition, all HCA Healthcare colleagues received education in 2024 on how to best support patients and colleagues who are neurodiverse through our annual Code of Conduct training.
Haley Hunsaker, a Behavioral Health RN at St. Mark’s Hospital works with a patient during intake using our language translation technology.
HCA Healthcare established a spiritual care council and developed standardized guidance, strengthening the foundation for our chaplains and spiritual care teams. We’re also actively collaborating on education, training and data collection initiatives.
Additionally, interactive training is offered to colleagues who desire additional training to improve their awareness and care for the communities we serve.
“We recently had a very ill pediatric patient whose parents spoke an unwritten dialect of Burmese called Rohingya. I mentioned it at the tail end of a conference call that I was on with our AMN [language services vendor] team last week. Within minutes, I had a live audio interpreter to help that family”
Christi Belle
Continental Division Ethics & Compliance Officer
Leader in trauma care
With 106 adult and pediatric trauma centers across the country, we provide care for more than 176,000 patients each year, including more than 11% of the nation’s most critically injured individuals in order to better serve our communities. Our trauma centers offer patients the best chance of healing and recovery, from the moment they’re admitted to the moment they’re discharged.
In the last 10 years, HCA Healthcare has more than doubled the number of Level I and II trauma programs. We leverage our technology to provide our trauma centers with access to a shared database, allowing clinical groups to immediately troubleshoot and identify trends. HCA Healthcare collects centralized data for easy access across the enterprise.
This data, combined with input from our clinicians and innovative research, informs decision-making across the enterprise and influences policies and procedures. We share our data-driven best practices shared with others in the healthcare industry to help advance trauma care including state trauma agencies, the national trauma data repository and the American College of Surgeons.
In 2024, HCA Healthcare represented 10% of the ACS Trauma Quality Improvement Program Conference attendees. HCA Healthcare clinical teams representing our TriStar, Continental, South Atlantic, Capital, North Florida, North Texas, MidAmerica, South Atlantic and Gulf Coast Divisions presented on a range of trauma care topics such as performance improvement strategies, mental health screenings and cutting-edge system approaches for critical trauma patients.
An integral part of our quality trauma care is the training and development of surgeons, nurses and future trauma leaders. Learn more about how we are training the next generation of physician leaders.
Expanding
HCA Healthcare’s Congenital Heart Programs
Every 15 minutes, a baby is born with a heart defect in the United States according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs) are the most common birth defect and found in 1% of deliveries. About 25% of defects are critical, needing surgery or intervention in the first year of life. An additional 25% will require a procedure during their lifetime.
After his birth, Beckett (pictured left) was transferred to HCA Healthcare affiliate Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas, Texas, to receive treatment a critical congenital heart defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart. His care team – including surgeons, physicians, nurses and more – performed three open heart surgeries on Beckett when his heart was still the size of a walnut.
Through HCA Healthcare’s Congenital Heart Programs, we strive for the best patient outcomes. Our clinical, quality and operations teams work together to provide critical surgery, procedures, care and treatment to patients with a CHD throughout their lifetime.
In 2024, our Congenital Heart Programs, located in the U.K., Texas, Nevada and Colorado, conducted more than 700 CHD surgeries. On surgical outcome quality measures used by national agencies, HCA Healthcare’s performance has consistently surpassed national benchmarks. We continue to leverage the scale of HCA Healthcare by incorporating the shared learnings, best practices, and clinical expertise from our programs as we expand our Congenital Heart Programs in 2025. Learn more about how we’re elevating patient care.
Increasing access to our transplant programs
In 2024, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), which manages the national registry for organ transplants and is administered by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), announced their challenge for the transplant community to reach 60,000 deceased donor transplants by the end of 2026.
In early 2025, the UNOS announced that more than 40,000 deceased donor transplants were performed in 2024. This was a record year for transplants, however, the number of transplants is still below the annual growth (17%) needed to reach the 60,000 milestone.
HCA Healthcare remains committed to providing access to life-saving transplants for patients in our communities and throughout the nation.
As a leader in living donor kidney transplants, we performed 351 living kidney donor transplants in 2024, which was 5.5% of living kidney donor transplants performed nationally.
Donor transplants in 2024
Nationally
- 41,115 deceased donor transplants were performed
- Deceased donor transplants increased 3.6% in 2024 when compared to 2023
HCA Healthcare
- 951 deceased donor transplants were performed
- Deceased donor transplant volume increased 14% in 2024 when compared to 2023
HCA Healthcare’s collaborative integrated network helps us connect patients with the necessary care they need, when and where they need it, even during times of crisis.
For example, when Hurricane Milton caused damages to HCA Florida Largo Hospital in fall 2024, it impacted the only transplant program in Pinellas County at that hospital. The transplant program was temporarily moved to HCA Florida Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg for two months so patients could continue receiving care.
Colleagues at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital celebrate a patient graduating from the post-operative physical rehabilitation program. Left to right: Luis Moreno, Manager, Environmental Services; Angela Frederick, Occupational Therapist; Laroche Philocles, Physical Therapist; Achu Abraham, Physical Therapist
Awards and recognition
World’s Most Admired Companies™
HCA Healthcare was ranked first in our industry by Fortune on their 2024 list of World’s Most Admired Companies. The annual global survey identifies organizations that excel in a variety of corporate reputation measures including innovation, ability to attract and retain talent, quality of management and social responsibility to the community and the environment.
2025 World’s Most Ethical Companies®
In early 2025, Ethisphere recognized HCA Healthcare as one of the 2025 World’s Most Ethical Companies. This is the 15th time we have been recognized on this list, which honors companies for their commitment to business integrity. Honorees undergo a rigorous assessment across five categories — Governance, Culture of Ethics, Environmental and Social Impact, Ethics and Compliance.
Fortune/PINC AI Top Hospitals
Fortune and PINC AI recognized 36 HCA Healthcare hospitals on their 100 Top Hospitals list for 2024. The 100 Top Hospitals list is based on data about patient outcomes and experience, operational efficiency, financial health and community impact. HCA Healthcare’s Continental Division and the Mountain Division, were recognized among the Top 15 Health Systems.
U.S. News and World Report’s Best Regional Hospitals
U.S. News and World Report ranked 16 HCA Healthcare hospitals as top hospitals in their region.
Best for Vets award by Military Times and VIQTORY
Military Times recognized HCA Healthcare as a Best for Vets employer for the fifth consecutive year, highlighting HCA Healthcare’s efforts to recruit, retain and support current and former service members, military spouses and military caregivers.
VIQTORY has recognized HCA Healthcare as a Military Friendly employer for 14 consecutive years. In 2024, HCA Healthcare has once again been awarded Gold distinction for our veteran hiring practices, programs and support initiatives.
Magnet® and Pathway to Excellence® Designation
HCA Healthcare’s network included 15 Magnet® Designations covering 19 facilities, and 19 Pathways® designations covering 20 facilities.
America’s Best Hospitals
Healthgrades’ 250 Best Hospitals Award recognizes the top 5% of hospitals nationwide for clinical excellence. In early 2025, 49 HCA Healthcare hospitals were included on the list.
Patient Safety Excellence
Healthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Award recognized 93 HCA Healthcare hospitals in the top 10% in the nation for patient safety.
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