Spokane, Washington - Deaconess Medical Center has once again been named as one of the nation's 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Solucient, a leading healthcare information and research firm. This award recognizes the continued efforts on the part of physicians, nurses and hospital staff who work together to provide exceptional healthcare for all they serve.
 
This independent annual award for excellence in cardiovascular services objectively measures performance on key criteria at the nation's top performing acute care hospitals. Deaconess was the only hospital named in Spokane and one of only two hospitals in the state to receive this distinction. This places Deaconess in an elite class of institutions, as it is the fourth time in the past seven years they have been recognized by Solucient for their achievements in cardiovascular services. Deaconess was also named among the nation's best cardiovascular hospitals in 1999, 2002 and 2004.
 
“This is independent validation that Deaconess Medical Center provides some of the very best cardiac care in the nation,” said Jeff A. Nelson, Empire Health Services CEO. “We are proud of our team and our ability to offer such exceptional care to community of Eastern Washington and beyond.”
 
To qualify for the distinction, hospitals must score highly across ten equally weighted areas of performance measurements. Those include outcomes for patients treated for heart attacks and congestive heart failure as well as patients undergoing coronary angioplasty and open-heart surgeries. Solucient uses publicly available Medicare performance data to determine which hospitals make the list.
 
In releasing the study, Solucient shared these additional findings:

• Deaconess open-heart patients spent fewer days in the hospital.
  
• Deaconess patients treated for heart attack, congestive heart failure, angioplasty and stent placement had better survival rates.
  
• Deaconess delivered more cost efficient care to all cardiac patients.