National Recognition for Clinical Excellence
(News of Note - January 30, 2009) The Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital (THI at SLEH) was recently recognized for the third consecutive year for overall clinical quality in an independent study released by HealthGrades, the leading healthcare ratings organization.
For this study, HealthGrades used administrative coding from more than 41 million Medicare patient records. The authors evaluated 26 common inpatient procedures and diagnoses and were able to determine outcomes in each case. The results are controlled for increased risk among populations with respect to factors like age, gender and sicker patients.
HealthGrades identified only 270 out of 5,000 hospitals that collectively had a 28 percent lower mortality rate and eight percent lower complication rate than the national average. The list reflects the top five percent of hospitals nationwide for: 1) Cardiac Care; 2) Coronary Intervention; 3) Stroke Care; 4) Vascular Surgery Care; 5) Critical Care; and 6) Women’s Stroke Services. SLEH also received recognition for Pulmonary Care, Gastrointestinal Care, Gastrointestinal Surgery Care, and General Surgery Care.
Dr. James Willerson, President and Medical Director of THI at SLEH, said, “Our unrivaled experience in medical, interventional and surgical treatment of heart disease has resulted in innovative care, better outcomes and improved quality of life for victims of heart disease around the world. We are pleased to salute THI physicians, SLEH nurses and support personnel for this important recognition.”
HealthGrades found that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence™ outperformed all other hospitals among the procedures and diagnoses studied. HealthGrades estimates that nearly 153,000 lives could have been saved and 12,000 complications could have been avoided over the three years studied if Medicare patients were treated at Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence.
The co-author of the study, Dr. Rick Mays, said in an article in Forbes Magazine, “What is very impressive is that when you look at statistics at high-performing hospitals, it is clear that they don’t get the HealthGrades distinction by chance. They do it by being extremely focused.”
“Receiving this award for the third time is a testament to our dedication to provide excellent quality care for our patients,” said David C. Pate, MD, JD, Chief Executive Officer, SLEH. “Our doctors, nurses and staff are committed to excellence in patient care and their efforts help us attain national recognition year after year.”
For Texas Heart Institute media profiles, see
Public Affairs.
