DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals, today issued a new report, Attracting and Keeping Female Patients: The Role of Quality in a Woman’s Lifetime of Health Care, that evaluates and reports on hospital quality provided to women in American hospitals. The report provides insights specifically about how women make decisions about required healthcare services throughout their lifetime.
The report complements the release of those hospitals that have achieved the 2014 Healthgrades Maternity Care Excellence Award™, the 2014 Healthgrades Gynecologic Surgery Excellence Award™ and the 2014 Healthgrades Women’s Health Excellence Award™.
The Healthgrades report also features the results of a national online survey, fielded by Harris Poll on behalf of Healthgrades in June that asked 1,116 women of different ages and demographic groups what mattered to them in making healthcare decisions. Pertinent findings from the survey reveal that women:
- Spend less than 1 hour researching health care services
- Consult at least three resources (physician, family/friends, internet, etc.) when evaluating/selecting healthcare providers
- Prioritize the level of influence these resources have in the decision making according to their age and specific health need
- Place higher importance on quality outcomes of a surgical procedure than distance to provider and out of pocket costs
- Place higher importance on the quality of the doctor or hospital than whether or not insurance covered the cost of a surgical procedure
“The results of the 2014 report and related research underscore the importance of providing high-quality care during all phases of a woman’s life,” said Evan Marks, Chief Strategy Officer, Healthgrades. “At Healthgrades, we commend those hospitals that have achieved the gynecologic surgery, maternity care and women’s health awards as they have demonstrated that they can deliver superior outcomes in the care of women.”
2014 Healthgrades Maternity Care Excellence Award™
To help consumers evaluate and compare hospital performance in maternity care, Healthgrades analyzed patient outcome data for virtually every hospital in the 17 states1 that provide all-payer state data for years 2010 through 2012. Since maternity care often marks the first time a woman selects a hospital for her healthcare needs, it is therefore an important opportunity for a hospital to establish a relationship with a female household decision maker. In 2014, Healthgrades recognizes 116 hospitals as Healthgrades 2014 Maternity Care Excellence Award recipients.
During a three-year time period (2010-2012), Healthgrades found that patients treated at hospitals with 5-star performance in maternity care had a:
- 54.4% lower risk of experiencing a complication with normal deliveries than those rated with 1-star*
- 77.6% lower risk of experiencing a complication with caesarian delivery than those rated 1-star*
2014 Healthgrades Gynecologic Surgery Excellence Award™
Gynecologic surgery refers to surgery on the female reproductive system and includes surgeries to treat benign tumors, cancer, infertility, incontinence, and various other conditions. To help consumers evaluate and compare hospital performance in gynecologic surgery, Healthgrades analyzed patient outcome data for all patients (all-payer data) provided by 17 individual states for years 2010 through 2012. This year, Healthgrades recognizes 122 hospitals as Healthgrades 2014 Gynecologic Surgery Excellence Award recipients.
During this three-year timeframe, Healthgrades found that there was a 57.5% lower risk of experiencing a complication in gynecologic surgery by selecting a hospital rated with five stars compared to hospitals with one star, and this risk dramatically increased as women aged*. According to the results of the Harris Poll survey, when asked how likely women would choose a hospital based on its 5-star rating (knowing there was a 54% lower risk of complication in gynecologic surgery), 71% indicated that they would very/fairly likely choose a hospital with that rating. These results indicate that quality really matters to women requiring gynecologic surgery.
2014 Healthgrades Women’s Health Excellence Award™
At Healthgrades, women’s health includes care provided to women for common conditions and procedures treated in the hospital for women over the age of 65. The Healthgrades Women’s Health Excellence Award™ recognizes the best-performing hospitals in this area, including care provided to women across a spectrum of specialties among all other hospitals in the nation, as measured by in-hospital complication and mortality rates for 15 of the most common hospital-based conditions and procedures. This year, Healthgrades recognizes 176 hospitals as Healthgrades 2014 Women’s Health Excellence Award recipients.
If all hospitals performed as the recipients of the 2014 Healthgrades Women’s Health Excellence Award, 44,484 women’s lives could have potentially been saved and 12,123 complications could have potentially been avoided for women.
For more information about Healthgrades, to see the complete list of hospitals recognized and related methodology, or to download a full copy of the report, please visit www.healthgrades.com/quality.
About Healthgrades
Healthgrades, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. Today, nearly one million people a day use the Healthgrades websites to search, compare and connect with physicians and hospitals that best meet their treatment needs. Consumers are empowered through use of the Healthgrades proprietary information about clinical outcomes, satisfaction, safety, and health conditions to make more informed healthcare decisions and take action. For more information about the Healthgrades report and to make informed decisions about hospitals and physicians in your area, visit www.healthgrades.com or download the Healthgrades iPhone app.
1 Healthgrades receives all-payer data from 18 states, however must exclude California data from evaluation as the state agency supplying the data masked key data elements that are necessary to properly risk adjust for the severity or types of patients treated.
* Statistics are based on Healthgrades application of QI Windows® Software (version 4.4), developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), to MedPAR data for years 2010 through 2012 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
