Independent
Quality Study Rates Deaconess Medical Center
Among Nation’s Best for Clinical Outcomes
Cardiac, Gastrointestinal, Stroke and
Critical Care Services Cited in
Ninth Annual HealthGrades Quality Study
Spokane, Wash. (October 16, 2006) – Deaconess Medical
Center announced today it has been ranked number one
in Washington for overall cardiac services for the second
year in a row, according to a comprehensive study released
by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare
ratings company. The hospital also ranked number
one in the state for cardiology services and coronary
interventional procedures including angioplasties and
stents. Deaconess Medical Center ranks among the
top ten percent in the nation for cardiology services
and interventional procedures, the only hospital in Washington
to achieve these rankings.
The annual study rates hospitals on a five-star scale. Deaconess
Medical Center received five-star ratings for:
- Coronary interventional procedures
- Treatment of heart attack
- Treatment of heart failure
- Treatment of bowel obstruction
- Treatment of stroke
- Treatment of sepsis
- Treatment of pulmonary embolism
“These designations are really independent validation
for what our patients, employees and physicians have
known for years: Deaconess Medical Center delivers
some of the very best care in the nation,” said Jeff
A. Nelson, Empire Health Services CEO. “I continue
to be impressed by the level of dedication and quality
that takes places in our hospital every day.”
As part of its ninth annual Hospital
Quality in America Study, HealthGrades independently analyzed more than
5,000 hospitals in all 50 states and the District of
Columbia for its 2007 ratings, objectively assessing
their clinical outcomes and quality. The 40 million
hospitalization records utilized in the assessment are
publicly available and licensed from the federal government’s
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The
HealthGrades ratings take into account varying degrees
of patient severity from hospital to hospital and measure
whether patient outcomes for each of more than two dozen
procedures and diagnoses are better than expected (5-Star),
as expected (3-Star) or worse than expected (1-Star).
“HealthGrades objectively assesses and rates hospital
performance in order to help consumers make better and
more informed healthcare choices,” explained Samantha
Collier, M.D., HealthGrades vice president of medical
affairs. “With consumers having a greater stake
in their healthcare purchasing decisions, it’s important
for them to know that there is a tremendous difference
in clinical quality outcomes between hospitals.”
“In Spokane, Deaconess Medical Center stands out notably
in terms of delivering quality care for its cardiac,
gastrointestinal, stroke and critical care patients,”
Collier added. “Patients, families and employers
here truly have access to healthcare that is among the
best in the nation.”
The
2007 HealthGrades ratings for all hospitals nationwide
are available, free of charge, on the organization’s
award-winning consumer Web site, located at www.healthgrades.com. More
than three million individuals and employees of 125 major
employers and health plans visit HealthGrades each month
to access quality information about hospitals, nursing
homes and physicians. HealthGrades also provides consumers
and payers with detailed assessments of hospitals’ patient-safety
outcomes, based on indicators developed by the U.S. Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality.
About Deaconess Medical Center
Deaconess Medical Center
is an acute care, not-for-profit hospital located in
downtown Spokane, Washington. Fully accredited by the
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
(JCAHO), Deaconess is a level II trauma center with 388-licensed
beds.Deaconess is a member of Empire Health Services
(EHS), a not-for-profit health system in Spokane. Along
with Deaconess, EHS owns and operates Valley Hospital
and Medical Center in the Spokane Valley along with four
urgent care clinics located throughout Spokane. More
information on the company can be found at www.empirehealth.org.
About HealthGrades
HealthGrades (Nasdaq:HGRD) is the leading
healthcare ratings company, providing ratings and profiles
of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers,
corporations, health plans and hospitals. Millions of
consumers and hundreds of the nation’s largest employers,
health plans and hospitals rely on HealthGrades’ independent
ratings to make healthcare decisions based on the quality
of care. More information on the company can be found
at http://www.healthgrades.com. |
