Healthgrades Announces 2015 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ Recipients
DENVER--Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals, today announced the 261 recipients of the 2015 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ (DHA-CE). While not all hospitals perform equally, the recipients of the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence demonstrate superior performance across multiple procedures and conditions. This performance places these hospitals among the top 5% in the United States for the lowest rates of risk adjusted mortality and in-hospital complications across a broad spectrum of hospital services and specialty areas.
Hospitals receiving the DHA-CE award outperformed non-recipients in six key cohorts (Heart Attack, Heart Failure, Pneumonia, Stroke, Sepsis, and Respiratory Failure). These six cohorts account for 80.9% of the mortalities across all 19 mortality cohorts evaluated by Healthgrades.In a related white paper, also released today, Healthgrades conducted an analysis to determine what differentiates recipient hospitals from non-recipient hospitals. The analysis of Distinguished Hospital Award recipients reveals those achieving this distinction performed better, not only in risk adjusted mortality outcomes, but also in HCAHPS patient experience measures and core process measure performance. Specifically:
- When comparing 2015 DHA-CE recipients to other non-recipient hospitals (who were eligible for the award), award recipients performed statistically significantly better on HCAHPS responses for three patient experience measures.
- Hospitals who are 2015 DHA-CE recipients performed statistically significantly better in core process measures that address Stroke and Blood Clotting than other non-recipient hospitals.
- Hospitals who received the DHA-CE award for the first time in 2015 performed statistically significantly better in core process measures related to Heart Failure and Stroke than non-recipients.
“The superior performance observed in clinical outcomes, core process measures, and patient experience within the recipient group is further validation for those hospitals that they are on the right path to achieving the goal of providing comprehensive high-quality performance care,” said Evan Marks, Chief Strategy Officer, Healthgrades. “Ultimately, this analysis shows that the Healthgrades DHA-CE is a relevant measure of performance in areas that most affect a hospital’s clinical, reputational, and financial excellence.”
To be considered for the Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence, a hospital had to have been evaluated in at least 21 of the 32 Healthgrades procedures and conditions consisting of Medicare inpatient data from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) database from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This year’s analysis uses 2011–2013 MedPAR data.
During the 2015 study period (2011-2013), if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to hospitals receiving the DHA-CE, on average 163,488 lives could potentially have been saved. In addition, during the same timeframe, patients treated in hospitals receiving the DHA-CE, on average had a 27.7% lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that did not receive the DHA-CE. 1
“We commend all recipients of the 2015 Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for their ongoing commitment to delivering comprehensive, high-quality clinical care across a broad spectrum of hospital services and specialties,” continued Mr. Marks.
About Healthgrades
Healthgrades, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. Today, nearly one million people a day use the Healthgrades websites to search, compare and connect with hospitals and physicians based on the most important measures when selecting a healthcare provider: experience, hospital quality and patient satisfaction. For more information about Healthgrades, visithttp://www.healthgrades.com or download the Healthgrades iPhone app.
1 For treatments across 19 rated conditions and procedures where mortality is the outcome.