HealthGrades Specialty Excellence Awards
"To reach the top ten percent in the nation in cardiac, orthopedic, vascular or other broad categories of care means there is something special at these hospitals that is producing superior outcomes across all the procedures and conditions that make up that specialty," said Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades Vice President of Medical Affairs. "The data analyzed is objective, based on information that hospitals themselves report to the federal government under the Medicare program, so there is no other way to reach the top ten percent other than to have the lowest mortality and complication rates in the country."
In determining the Specialty Excellence Awards, HealthGrades' star ratings in the following procedures and diagnoses were analyzed:
Cardiac
Coronary Bypass Surgery
Valve Replacement Surgery
Coronary Interventions (angioplasty, stent)
Heart Failure
Heart Attack
Atrial Fibrillation
Orthopedic
Total Knee Replacement
Total Hip Replacement
Partial Hip Replacement
Hip Fracture Repair
Back & Neck Surgery
Spinal Fusion
Pulmonary
Community Acquired Pneumonia
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Stroke
Stroke
Vascular
Carotid Endarterectomy
Peripheral Vascular Bypass
Resection/Replacement Abdominal Aorta
Gastrointestinal
Gastrointestinal Bleed
Gastrointestinal Procedures & Surgeries
Cholecystectomy
Bowel Obstruction
Pancreatitis
Critical Care
Respiratory Failure
Pulmonary Embolism
Sepsis
General Surgery
Bowel Obstruction
Cholecystectomy
Appendectomy
The critical care specialty category also includes the Leapfrog indicator for intensivist use. More information on the methodology can be found at HealthGrades' Web site.
Consumers can find the award recipients at www.healthgrades.com, where more than 2.5 million individuals each month search for ratings and quality information on hospitals, physicians and nursing homes.
About HealthGrades
HealthGrades (Nasdaq:HGRD) is the leading healthcare ratings organization, 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 and decision-support resources to make healthcare decisions based on the quality of care. More information on the company can be found at http://www.healthgrades.com.
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