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Good Samaritan Hospital Among Top Five Percent in Nation According to Quality Study

Posted on: Thursday, 31 January 2008, 03:00 CST

Good Samaritan Hospital announced today that it is among the nation's top five percent of hospitals, according to an independent study of mortality and complication rates released today by HealthGrades, the nation's leading healthcare ratings company.

Good Samaritan Hospital has achieved HealthGrades' 2008 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical ExcellenceTM based on its clinical quality performance. According to the HealthGrades study, patients admitted to Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence including Good Samaritan Hospital are, on average, 27 percent less likely to die and 5 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.

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.

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, MD, HealthGrades' chief medical officer. "But Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence like Good Samaritan Hospital have proven that it is possible to consistently deliver top-notch medical care consistently, across a range of procedures."

Good Samaritan Hospital is one of only 43 hospitals in the country to achieve HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for six consecutive years. In 2007 Good Samaritan was named one of America's 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades. Good Samaritan is also the recipient of the HealthGrades 2008 Excellence Award for Joint Replacement, Stroke Care, Pulmonary Care and Gastrointestinal Care as well as the 2007/2008 Women's Health Excellence Award.

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.

About Good Samaritan Hospital

First opened in 1885, Good Samaritan Hospital is a 408-bed tertiary care facility offering some of the most comprehensive care in Los Angeles. Specializing in cardiac services, women's services, orthopedics, oncology, and ophthalmology, Good Samaritan Hospital offers Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Neurosciences program featuring the Gamma Knife radiosurgery, Ophthalmologic Program including Retinal Surgery, Orthopedic Surgical Program including Sports Medicine, Oncology Program using the latest in radiation therapy -- IMRT and HDR, Kidney Stone services, Transfusion-Free Medicine and Surgery Center, and Emergency Services. For more information visit www.goodsam.org.

Source: Business Wire

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