• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Patient Care at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles Rates Highly According to Recent HealthGrades Study

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 October 2008, 00:00 CDT

Good Samaritan Hospital identified as top performer in several clinical areas including joint replacement, stroke, and pulmonary care according to The Eleventh Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study. The recent same study also finds a large gap in quality between the best and poorest-performing hospitals.

The Eleventh Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study identifies key trends in the quality of care provided by approximately 5,000 hospitals nationwide. HealthGrades researchers analyzed over 41 million Medicare discharges from every U.S. hospitals from 2005 through 2007. Risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates were calculated and hospitals were assigned a 1-star (poor), 3-star (as expected), or 5-star (best) quality rating for 27 diagnoses and procedures from heart failure to hip replacement to pneumonia.

According to the study, patients admitted to the nation's top-performing, five-star hospitals like Good Samaritan Hospital, have, on average, a 70 percent lower chance of dying, than those treated at one-star hospitals. Also, if all hospitals performed at the level of five-star rated hospitals, 237,420 Medicare deaths could potentially have been prevented over the three years studied. More than half of those preventable deaths were associated with four conditions: Sepsis, pneumonia, heart failure and respiratory failure.

Good Samaritan Hospital also received the following 5-Star ratings for: Treatment of Heart Failure Joint Replacement Total Knee Replacement Total Hip Replacement Treatment of Overall Pulmonary Stroke Services Treatment of Pneumonia Treatment of GI Treatment of Sepsis Bleed Treatment of Respiratory Failure

Among the study's key findings:

-- Large gaps persist between the "best" and the "worst" hospitals across all procedures and conditions studied. Five-star rated hospitals, such as Good Samaritan Hospital had significantly lower risk-adjusted mortality across all three years studied.

-- Across all procedures and conditions studied, there was an approximate 70 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital.

-- Across all procedures and conditions studied, there was an approximate 50 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to the U.S. hospital average.

On its Web site, HealthGrades offers, free to consumers, quality ratings of 27 procedures and treatments for virtually every hospital in the country. The Web site is designed so that consumers can easily compare patient outcomes at their local hospitals for procedures ranging from aortic aneurysm repair to bypass surgery. Each hospital receives a star rating based on its patient outcomes in terms of mortality or complication rates for each procedure or treatment. Hospitals with outcomes that are above average to a statistically significant degree receive a five-star rating. Hospitals with average outcomes receive a three-star rating, and hospitals with outcomes that are below average receive a one-star rating. Because no two hospitals or their patients' risk profiles are alike, HealthGrades employs extensive risk-adjustment algorithms to ensure that it is making analogous comparisons.

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 retinal surgery, 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

More News in this Category