2004 Solucient Top 100
GSMC News – GOOD SHEPHERD NAMED A TOP HEART HOSPITAL IN NATION.
Only five hospitals in Texas recognized.
Good Shepherd only hospital in East Texas.
Longview, Texas – October 27, 2003 – Good Shepherd Heart Center was named Monday as one of the nation’s 100 Top cardiovascular hospitals by Evanston, IL-based Solucient.
Now in its fifth year, the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success Study identifies hospitals that are setting benchmark levels of performance for cardiovascular services throughout the nation. This study is part of the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals initiative, originally developed in 1993.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States, and cardiology care represents one of the most common and high profile of all hospital services. With more than 1,000 hospitals performing open-heart surgery, and hundreds more offering medical cardiology programs, this specialty is vital to patients.
The annual Solucient award objectively measures performance on key criteria at the nation’s top performing heart hospitals. Hospitals do not apply for this award, but instead are independently identified and recognized by Solucient. The study scored facilities according to key measures: risk-adjusted medical mortality, risk-adjusted surgical mortality, complications, percentage of CABG patients with internal mammary artery use, procedure volume, severity-adjusted average length of stay, and wage and severity-adjusted average cost.
“Good Shepherd always strives to provide quality care to the patients we serve. The Solucient 100 Top Hospitals Cardiovascular award recognizes the caring and professional physicians and staff who work so diligently to deliver the best care,” said Jerry D. Adair, President & CEO, Good Shepherd Health System.
Good Shepherd combined all heart services into one center in late 2001 and added cutting-edge cardiac equipment to provide better treatment for heart patients. The new center contains a $1.2 million digital cardiovascular imaging system that instantly provides physicians with a clear image of blood vessels and allows better treatment of coronary artery blockages caused by heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular damage.
In addition, Good Shepherd joined the national Women’s Heart Advantage program in 2003 to increase awareness of heart disease, especially among women who believe that cancer is their leading cause of death.
Among the key findings from the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success Study:
- Top hospitals have almost 19 percent lower mortality rates for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or coronary balloon angioplasty surgery than peer hospitals.
- If all acute care heart hospitals performed at the same level as the nation’s top heart hospitals, survival rates for cardiovascular patients could increase by 4,000 patients each year and an additional 1,400 patients could be complication-free.
- The mortality rate for congestive heart failure at benchmark hospitals is nearly 17 percent lower than at all other hospitals.
- The mortality rate for acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack, at benchmark hospitals is nearly nine percent lower than at peer hospitals.
- Winning hospitals are approximately 20 percent less likely to have complications related to post-operative infections and hemorrhage for heart patients.
- Average cardiovascular-related costs for benchmark hospitals were nearly 11 percent lower than at peer hospitals.
The Solucient 100 Top Hospital: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success Study analyzed acute care hospitals nationwide using detailed empirical performance data from 2001, including publicly available Medicare MEDPAR data and Medicare cost reports. The measures were calculated for three classes of hospitals with the following number of winners in each:
Teaching with Cardiovascular Residency Programs – 30 winners
Three in Texas
- Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas
- Scott and White Memorial Hospital, Temple
- Memorial Hermann Hospital System, Houston
Teaching without Cardiovascular Residency Programs – 40 winners
None in Texas
Community – 30 winners.
Two in Texas
- Good Shepherd Medical Center, Longview
- Providence Health Center, Waco
“Being named a Solucient 100 Top cardiovascular hospital is a grand achievement which does not happen without the effort of every employee and physician at Good Shepherd,” said Adair. “Providing quality care requires the inter-related work of each member of the Health System team. Such an honor is shared by nursing, technicians, business office personnel and support services.”
The 2003 Solucient 100 Top Hospital: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success Study appears in the October 27 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine. Solucient is the leading source of health care business intelligence. Its mission is to provide comprehensive, results-oriented information to drive business growth, manage costs and deliver quality care. Solucient’s expertise and proven solutions enable providers, payers, employers, and pharmaceutical companies to achieve results and realize value. By bridging the gap between data and information, knowledge and value, Solucient drives intelligent business decisions