Mercy Regional Medical Center has been recognized by Healthgrades as one of America's 100 best hospitals for orthopedic surgery and spine surgery in 2016. Moreover, Mercy is the only hospital in Colorado to be in America's 100 best for orthopedic and spine surgery four years in a row (2013-2016). The awards place Mercy among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation for performance in these areas.
From 2012-2014, patients treated at hospitals receiving the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery award have, on average, a 37.1 percent lower risk of experiencing a complication while in the hospital than if they were treated in hospitals which did not receive the award. Patients treated at hospitals receiving the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery award have, on average, a 50.8% lower risk of experiencing a complication while in the hospital than if they were treated in hospitals which did not receive the award.
Healthgrades, an online resource that helps consumers make informed decisions about health care, evaluated nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 33 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions and identified the 100 best-performing hospitals across all conditions or procedures within this service line.
The achievement is part of findings recently released in the Healthgrades 2016 Report to the Nation. The new report demonstrates how clinical performance continues to differ dramatically between hospitals both nationally and regionally. This variation in care may have a significant impact on health outcomes. A five-star rating indicates that Mercy Regional Medical Center's clinical outcomes are statistically significantly better than expected when treating the condition or conducting the procedure being evaluated.
"We welcome the national recognition of our orthopedic and spine services," said Dr. Bill Plauth, Mercy's chief medical officer. "The great outcomes our patients experience is a tribute to the collaboration and commitment to excellence of our physicians, allied health professionals, nurses and staff," The centers approach patient care in a team-based, collaborative model that relies on continuous monitoring of quality indicators and outcomes.
In addition to being named by Healthgrades as one of America's 100 Best Hospitals, Healthgrades recognized Mercy with several other awards, including: five star recipient for hip fracture treatment for five years in a row (2012-2016); top 10 peercent in the nation for overall pulmonary services for two years in a row (2015-2016); five star recipient for treatment of heart failure, 2016; and more.
"The Healthgrades 2016 Report to the Nation reveals striking disparities in quality at the local level, and underscores why it is vital for consumers to understand outcomes performance at alternative hospitals for specific conditions and procedures," said Evan Marks, chief strategy officer for Healthgrades. "Hospitals with superior outcomes for certain aspects of care may not perform as well in other areas. Moreover, a major metropolitan area may have many hospitals, but only a few may provide better-than-expected outcomes for the specific care a patient needs. Those hospitals that have achieved the Healthgrades distinction have demonstrated a commitment to exceptional quality care."
For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 40 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide, and assessed hospital performance relative to each of 33 common conditions and procedures. Healthgrades recognizes a hospital's quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as five star (statistically significantly better than expected), three star (not statistically different from expected), and one star (statistically significantly worse than expected) categories. The complete Healthgrades 2016 Report to the Nation with detailed cohort-specific outcomes data, hospital-specific quality achievements, and detailed study methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.
