Good Samaritan Hospital tops HealthGrade ratings for stroke treatment and joint replacement

A study issued today by HealthGrades, Inc., the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, finds that Good Samaritan Hospital is among the Top 5% in the Nation for Treatment of Stroke and Top 10% in the Nation for Joint Replacement. The nation’s nearly 5,000 nonfederal hospitals were all included in the sweeping study, which examined mortality rates and complication rates from government data from 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Good Samaritan Hospital continues to build on its long-standing history of delivering top-rated quality care across 9 major service areas including Cardiac, Orthopedics, Stroke Care, Pulmonary Services, Gastrointestinal Services, Critical Care, General Surgery, Maternity Care and Women’s Health Services. HealthGrades further acknowledged Good Samaritan Hospital’s quality performance with the following ratings including:

• 5-Star Rated for Treatment of Heart Failure 8 Years in a Row (2003-2010)
• 5-Star Rated for Total Knee Replacement 4 Years in a Row (2007-2010)
• 5-Star Rated for Total Hip Replacement 3 Years in a Row (2008-2010)
• 5-Star Rated for Treatment of Stroke 8 Years in a Row (2003-2010)
• 5-Star Rated for Treatment of Pneumonia 8 Years in a Row (2003-2010)
• 5-Star Rated for Treatment of GI Bleed 5 Years in a Row (2006-2010)
• 5-Star Rated for Treatment of Sepsis 5 Years in a Row (2006-2010)
• 5-Star Rated for Treatment of Respiratory Failure 3 Years in a Row (2008-2010)

The HealthGrades twelfth annual Hospital Quality in America study, the largest annual report of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes from nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records.

Top-performing hospitals had dramatically lower mortality rates than other hospitals, according to the study. For the 17 procedures and diagnoses for which HealthGrades analyzed mortality rates, patients at top hospitals had a 72 percent lower chance of dying when compared with the lowest-performing hospitals, and a 52 percent lower chance of dying when compared to the U.S. national average.

Earlier this year Good Samaritan Hospital was a recipient of the Maternity Care Excellence Award for the 3^rd Year in a Row (2007/2008-2009/2010) and Ranked Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Maternity Care in the Sixth Annual HealthGrades Women’s Health in American Hospitals study released in June 2009. Good Samaritan was also a recipient of the Women’s Health Excellence Award for the 3^rd Year in a Row (2007/2008-2009/2010) and was also Ranked Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Women’s Health.

Further underscoring its quality work in maternity care and women’s health, Good Samaritan Hospital has been rated 5-Star for Maternity Care 3 years in a row (2007/2008-2009/2010) and 5-Star Rated for Women’s Health 5 Years in a Row (2005 & 2006/2007-2009/2010).

HealthGrades Ratings

HealthGrades rates hospitals independently based on data that hospitals submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.

For 28 procedures and treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital’s mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for apples-to-apples comparisons.