Each year, NRC honors those hospitals whose consumers rate as having the best quality and image, based on the nationally syndicated “Ticker” (formerly Healthcare Market Guide) study of over 250,000 households. This is the 14th year of the award.

The Consumer Choice Award reflects the growing role consumer choice is playing in the health care field.

Additionally, recognizing that a host of factors enter into choices made by consumers, the criteria by which winners are named reflects a composite score for multiple consumer image and preference ratings.

Ryan Donohue, a Senior Administrator from National Research Corporation based in Lincoln, Nebraska, presented the award to Mike King, Camden Clark Memorial Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer in a ceremony at the Hospital on Thursday, November 19, 2009. The announcement also appeared in Modern Healthcare magazine. Camden Clark Memorial Hospital was among 280 other facilities chosen as Consumer Choice Award winners in the top 300 markets across the country.

“The Consumer Choice Award indicates that Camden Clark Memorial Hospital has achieved a level of service that is valued by consumers in your market, and provides them valuable information when selecting a hospital for health care services,” said Donohue. “We at National Research Corporation congratulate you on a job well done.”

The Consumer Choice Award identifies hospitals that health care consumers have chosen as having the highest quality and image in over 300 markets throughout the United States. This is the first time that the Parkersburg/Marietta, WV/OH area has been surveyed in its 14-year history.

Ginny Martin, President of NRC’s Ticker Division, said winners are determined by consumer perceptions on multiple quality and image ratings collected in the company’s Healthcare Market Guide Ticker^SM study. Of the 3,200 hospitals named by consumers in the study, the winning facilities rank highest in their Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs), as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Ticker study surveyed over 250,000 households representing over 450,000 consumers in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia.

“Health care has become an increasingly important issue across the country and empowered consumers are making decisions for themselves and their families when selecting their health care facilities and services,” Martin said. “As care options multiply and financial challenges remain strong, consumer perception of quality continues to grow in importance.

Dedication to providing high quality health care has become essential for all hospitals. In the face of adversity, these Consumer Choice award winners exemplify the dedication it takes to provide quality health care to their communities, and we are please to honor them through the eyes of their patients.”

NRC’s Healthcare Market Guide Ticker is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive study of its kind. No other study used to measure hospital performance and preferences contains more consumer responses than NRC’s study. The study has a margin of error of + or – 0.2 percent at a national level. Co-winners are named when scores fall within the statistical margin of error for a given market.

National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCI) is an industry leader, with more than two decades of experience in health care performance measurement and improvement.