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North Memorial Ranked Top Five Percent in Nation for the Fifth Year in a Row According to Quality Study
North Memorial announced that a new study ranks its clinical quality among the top 5 percent in the nation. 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".
"Once again, I am very proud of our physicians, nurses, staff and leaders at North Memorial," says David W. Cress, President & CEO of North Memorial. "We take pride in delivering quality care to our patients every day and we are honored to be ranked in the top five percent nationally for quality."
According to the eighth annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study, North Memorial and the other hospitals in the top 5 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.
North Memorial is one of only 269 hospitals that received this distinction from HealthGrades. This is the fifth consecutive year that North Memorial has been named a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence recipient.
"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, North Memorial and those identified as being in the top 5 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 percent, compared with a 10 percent average improvement of all other hospitals.
North Memorial’s strong record of outstanding clinical outcomes is demonstrated in a number of service areas including cardiac care, orthopedics, treatment of stroke, pulmonary services, critical care, gastrointestinal services and maternity care. In 2010, North Memorial was the recipient of eight HealthGrades Specialty Excellence Awards:
- Cardiac Care
- Cardiac Surgery
- Coronary Intervention
- Critical Care
- Gastrointestinal Care
- Pulmonary Care
- Stroke Care
- Women’s Health
Methodology
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 5 percent when all 26 individual scores are aggregated into an overall score.
©2012 North Memorial Health Care
