Wednesday, February 23, 2011

New Study Finds More than a Half Million Preventable Deaths in Last Decade

HealthGrades America’s 50 Hospitals are located in 28 cities in 19 states. The West Palm Beach, Fla. area leads the nation with six of these top-performing hospitals. Chicago and Cleveland come in next with four recognized hospitals each. To find out if one of these elite hospitals is in your community, click here.

America’s 50 Best hospitals demonstrated superior and sustained clinical quality over an eleven year time period, based on an analysis of more than 140 million Medicare patient records.

To be recognized with this elite distinction, hospitals must have had risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates that were in the top 5% in the nation for the most consecutive years. On average, patients treated at America’s 50 Best Hospitals had a nearly 30% lower risk of death and 3% lower rate of complications. HealthGrades study found that if all U.S. hospitals had performed at this level, more than a half million Medicare deaths could have been prevented between 1999 and 2009.

“As our nation searches for a solution to providing Americans’ with access to high quality health care at an affordable price, these hospitals are setting the standard, demonstrating that consistent, sustainable clinical excellence is achievable,” said Dr. Rick May, HealthGrades vice president of clinical quality services and co-author of the report.

America's 50 Best Hospitals 2011:

In this analysis, HealthGrades independently and objectively analyzed approximately 140 million Medicare patient records from fiscal years 1999 through 2009 for 26 medical procedures and conditions. To be included in the analysis, hospitals must have met minimum thresholds in terms of patient volumes, quality ratings, and the range of services provided. Individuals may compare their local hospitals online at HealthGrades.com. HealthGrades’ hospital ratings are independently created; no hospital can opt-in or opt-out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated. Mortality and complication rates are risk adjusted, which takes into account differing levels of severity of patient illness at different hospitals and allows for hospitals to be compared equally.

About HealthGrades HealthGrades is America's most trusted, independent source of physician information and hospital quality outcomes. HealthGrades’ online properties are the nation's leading destination for physician search and empower more than 200 million consumers annually to make informed health care decisions.