HUMC Among Top Five Percent in Nation for Sixth Consecutive Year
By Mel Fabrikant Thursday, January 31, 2008, 12:38 PM EST
Recognized for outstanding clinical performance by HealthGrades®, the leading independent healthcare ratings company
Hackensack University Medical Center announced today that it is among the nation’s top five percent of hospitals for patient outcomes, according to an independent study of mortality and complication rates released today by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare ratings company.
Hackensack University Medical Center has achieved HealthGrades’ 2008 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical ExcellenceTM based on its clinical quality performance. According to the HealthGrades study, patients admitted to a hospital receiving this award are, on average, 27 percent less likely to face mortality and five percent less likely to suffer from a major complication. This year, only 269 of the nation’s 4,971 non-federal hospitals will receive this distinction, which Hackensack University Medical Center received for the sixth consecutive year, an achievement only 43 hospitals can claim.
HealthGrades estimates that if all patients were treated at Distinguished Hospitals, 171,424 lives could have been saved and 9,671 post-operative complications could have been avoided during the three years studied.
“Quality continues to be one of Hackensack University Medical Center’s non-negotiable values,” said John P. Ferguson, president and chief executive officer. “It is imperative that we focus on providing outstanding clinical outcomes as this is what our patients have come to expect and most certainly deserve,” he added.
The HealthGrades study shows that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence are improving their patient outcomes at a greater rate in more procedures and diagnoses than all other hospitals, lowering risk-adjusted mortality rates over the years 2004, 2005, 2006 by an average of 15 percent.
“The gap between top-performing hospitals and others persists," said Samantha Collier, M.D., HealthGrades' chief medical officer. "But Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence like Hackensack University Medical Center have proven that it is possible to consistently deliver top-notch medical care consistently, across a range of procedures.”
While the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence recognizes a hospital’s overall quality across more than two dozen procedures and diagnoses, the Bergen County hospital also performed well in several clinical specialty areas. Hackensack University Medical Center is ranked number one in New Jersey for each of the following, according to HealthGrades:
Overall Cardiac Care – three years in a row
Cardiac Surgery – two years in a row
Orthopaedic Surgery
Bariatric Surgery – two years in a row
Each year, HealthGrades independently analyzes the clinical quality performance of all non-federal hospitals across the country in 27 procedures and diagnoses. In the Distinguished Hospital Study, the company reviewed tens of millions of hospitalization records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, over the years 2004, 2005 and 2006. 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 five percent when all 27 individual scores are aggregated into an overall score.
Hackensack University Medical Center announced today that it is among the nation’s top five percent of hospitals for patient outcomes, according to an independent study of mortality and complication rates released today by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare ratings company.
Hackensack University Medical Center has achieved HealthGrades’ 2008 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical ExcellenceTM based on its clinical quality performance. According to the HealthGrades study, patients admitted to a hospital receiving this award are, on average, 27 percent less likely to face mortality and five percent less likely to suffer from a major complication. This year, only 269 of the nation’s 4,971 non-federal hospitals will receive this distinction, which Hackensack University Medical Center received for the sixth consecutive year, an achievement only 43 hospitals can claim.
HealthGrades estimates that if all patients were treated at Distinguished Hospitals, 171,424 lives could have been saved and 9,671 post-operative complications could have been avoided during the three years studied.
“Quality continues to be one of Hackensack University Medical Center’s non-negotiable values,” said John P. Ferguson, president and chief executive officer. “It is imperative that we focus on providing outstanding clinical outcomes as this is what our patients have come to expect and most certainly deserve,” he added.
The HealthGrades study shows that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence are improving their patient outcomes at a greater rate in more procedures and diagnoses than all other hospitals, lowering risk-adjusted mortality rates over the years 2004, 2005, 2006 by an average of 15 percent.
“The gap between top-performing hospitals and others persists," said Samantha Collier, M.D., HealthGrades' chief medical officer. "But Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence like Hackensack University Medical Center have proven that it is possible to consistently deliver top-notch medical care consistently, across a range of procedures.”
While the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence recognizes a hospital’s overall quality across more than two dozen procedures and diagnoses, the Bergen County hospital also performed well in several clinical specialty areas. Hackensack University Medical Center is ranked number one in New Jersey for each of the following, according to HealthGrades:
Overall Cardiac Care – three years in a row
Cardiac Surgery – two years in a row
Orthopaedic Surgery
Bariatric Surgery – two years in a row
Each year, HealthGrades independently analyzes the clinical quality performance of all non-federal hospitals across the country in 27 procedures and diagnoses. In the Distinguished Hospital Study, the company reviewed tens of millions of hospitalization records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, over the years 2004, 2005 and 2006. 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 five percent when all 27 individual scores are aggregated into an overall score.
