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Contact: Paul Lindsley
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plindsley@stthomas.org
SAINT THOMAS HOSPITAL RANKED TOP FIVE PERCENT IN NATION FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR ACCORDING TO QUALITY STUDY
Recognized for Outstanding Clinical Performance by HealthGrades, the Leading Independent Healthcare Ratings Organization
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (Jan. 26, 2010) – Saint Thomas Hospital announced today that a new study ranks its clinical quality among the top five percent in the nation for the second year in a row. Saint Thomas Hospital is one of only 269 hospitals that received this distinction from HealthGrades, and the only hospital in Nashville.
The study by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, analyzed patient outcomes at each of the nation’s 5,000 nonfederal hospitals over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, and named hospitals in the top five percent as HealthGrades Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence™.
"We are proud to receive this honor for the second consecutive year. Being recognized for the care we provide reinforces our commitment of providing quality, safe, patient-centered care to our patients," said Les Donahue, President and CEO, Saint Thomas Hospital. "We have created a culture of excellence. The entire hospital staff, as well as physician staff, is responsible for making us a leader in quality care."
According to the eighth annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study, Saint Thomas Hospital and the other hospitals in the top five percent demonstrated patient outcomes that far exceeded those of other hospitals. Patients admitted to these hospitals had risk-adjusted mortality rates that were, on average, 29 percent lower than all other hospitals. Risk-adjusted complication rates were, on average, 9 percent lower than all other hospitals. In 2010, Saint Thomas Hospital also received 5-star ratings for joint replacement, overall pulmonary care, vascular surgery, and gastrointestinal surgery, according to HealthGrades.
"Our data show that only a select few hospitals achieve high-quality patient outcomes not just in a few categories of care, but across the board and over time," said Rick May, MD, a vice president with HealthGrades and an author of the study. "Patients in communities with a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence should feel proud of the hospital’s accomplishments, and confident that the level of care there is among the very best in the nation."
The study states: "Patients who choose to receive their care at a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence certainly will have a lower risk for an adverse clinical outcome relative to all other hospitals."
As a group, Saint Thomas Hospital and those identified as being in the top five percent in the nation improved their mortality rates at a faster pace than all other hospitals. Over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, the HealthGrades study found that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence lowered their risk-adjusted mortality rates over the three years by an average of 14%, compared with a 10% average improvement of all other hospitals.
This is the eighth year that HealthGrades has independently analyzed the clinical quality performance of all non-federal hospitals across the country in 26 procedures and diagnoses. In the study, the company reviewed approximately 40 million hospitalization records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, over the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. All hospitals that participate in the Medicare program were part of the independent study. Hospitals that receive the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence are those hospitals that rank in the top five percent when all 26 individual scores are aggregated into an overall score.
Saint Thomas Hospital is a member of Saint Thomas Health Services, a faith-based ministry with more than 8,000 associates serving Middle Tennessee. Saint Thomas Health Services’ regional health system consists of five hospitals – Baptist and Saint Thomas Hospitals and the Center for Spinal Surgery in Nashville, Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro and Hickman Community Hospital in Centerville – and a comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures in diagnostics, cardiac services and ambulatory surgery as well as medical practices, clinics and rehabilitation facilities.
