Truven Health Analytics Names 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals Achieving Highest Level of Clinical and Operational Performance in the U.S.

Top Cardiac Hospitals Boast Lower Readmission Rates, Fewer Patient Complications, Higher Inpatient Survival Rates, and Shorter Patient Stays, While Spending Less per Patient Than Peers

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--()--Truven Health Analytics,TM a leader in applying data and analytics to better understand and solve challenges faced by healthcare providers and payers, today released its 2016 annual study identifying the top U.S. hospitals for inpatient cardiovascular services.

An Objective Benchmark for Healthcare Value

The study, now in its 17th year, uses a balanced national scorecard of hospital performance metrics to identify the 50 highest-performing cardiovascular services lines in the nation. Similar to the 100 Top Hospitals® study, also published annually by Truven Health, the rigorous processes used to calculate and measure hospital service lines leverage industry-leading, risk-adjusted methodologies developed and maintained by Truven Health scientists over many years. These processes are widely regarded as the leading program for evaluating leadership impact in a hospital, as well as evaluating quality indicators and efficiencies.

“Winners of the Truven Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals award recognize that delivering healthcare value to their communities requires the type of consistent high performance across the continuum of care that can only be achieved through a commitment to constant improvement,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and the 100 Top Hospitals program at Truven Health Analytics. "The nation’s most successful hospitals know that strategic alignment of quality, costs, and the patient experience is critical to delivering top-quality care. We’re proud to recognize their diligent efforts.”

50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals Performance Metrics

The 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals spent an average of $6,100 less per bypass surgery than non-winning hospitals and more than $1,200 less per heart failure patient admitted. Winning hospitals also saw fewer complications, had shorter average patient lengths of stay and significantly higher inpatient survival rates than non-winning hospitals.

Following were some of the key performance benchmarks set by this year’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals:

  • Lower Readmissions Rates: Readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction and heart failure were 1.05 percentage points lower than non-winning hospitals.
  • Higher Inpatient Survival Rates: Winning hospitals experienced inpatient survival rates that were 20 to 33 percent higher than non-winning hospitals.
  • Fewer Complications: The 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals achieved 8 to 11 percent fewer patients with complications.
  • Shorter Length of Stay: Patients at winning hospitals spent an average of one-half to one full day fewer in the hospital than patients at non-winning hospitals.

The study, and subsequent analysis of the positive variances these leading cardiovascular service hospitals achieve, shines a light on the opportunity for a broader national impact on cardiovascular patients if these results were replicated across all hospitals. In fact, if all cardiovascular providers in the U.S. performed at the level of this year's winners (based on Medicare patients only), results industry-wide could amount to: 8,000 additional lives saved, $1.3 billion saved, and 3,500 additional complication-free bypass and angioplasty patients.

The study evaluated general and applicable specialty, short-term, acute care, non-federal U.S. hospitals treating a broad spectrum of cardiology patients. Nearly 70 percent of the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals are members of health systems, with four systems having more than one winner. This suggests that consistency is gaining traction as systems increasingly focus on standard, reliable care across all levels.

To determine the 50 top U.S. hospitals for heart care, Truven Health researchers analyzed 2013 and 2014 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, 2014 Medicare cost reports and second-quarter 2015 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare data. They scored hospitals in key performance areas: risk-adjusted mortality, risk-adjusted complications, core measures (a group of measures that assess process of care), percentage of coronary bypass patients with internal mammary artery use, 30-day mortality rates, 30-day readmission rates, severity-adjusted average length of stay, and wage- and severity-adjusted average cost.

The winning Truven Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals were classified into three comparison groups. (The order of hospitals in the following list does not reflect performance ranking.)

Top Teaching Hospitals With Cardiovascular Residency Programs

Baystate Medical Center – Springfield, MA
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – Boston, MA
The Christ Hospital Health Network – Cincinnati, OH
Kettering Medical Center – Kettering, OH
Lankenau Medical Center – Wynnewood, PA
Mayo Clinic Hospital – Phoenix, AZ
Mayo Clinic – Saint Marys Hospital – Rochester, MN
Riverside Medical Center – Kankakee, IL
Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital – Sayre, PA
Sanford USD Medical Center – Sioux Falls, SD
Scripps Green Hospital – La Jolla, CA
Steward St. Elizabeth's Medical Center – Brighton, MA
Tufts Medical Center – Boston, MA
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics – Madison, WI
Vanderbilt University Medical Center – Nashville, TN

Top Teaching Hospitals Without Cardiovascular Residency Programs

Abrazo Central Campus – Phoenix, AZ
Aspirus Wausau Hospital – Wausau, WI
Aultman Hospital – Canton, OH
Decatur Memorial Hospital – Decatur, IL
Eisenhower Medical Center – Rancho Mirage, CA
Henry Ford Macomb Hospitals – Clinton Township, MI
Huntsville Hospital – Huntsville, AL
MacNeal Hospital – Berwyn, IL
Memorial Hermann Hospital System – Houston, TX
Mission Hospital – Asheville, NC
Memorial Regional Hospital – Hollywood, FL
Mercy Hospital St. Louis – St. Louis, MO
Morton Plant Hospital – Clearwater, FL
Sacred Heart Hospital – Pensacola, FL
Saint Thomas West Hospital – Nashville, TN
Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital – Ann Arbor, MI
St. Joseph's Hospital – St. Paul, MN
St. Luke's Hospital – Cedar Rapids, IA
St. Luke's Boise Medical Center – Boise, ID
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento – Sacramento, CA

Top Community Hospitals

Banner Heart Hospital – Mesa, AZ
Bellin Hospital – Green Bay, WI
Nebraska Heart Institute & Heart Hospital – Lincoln, NE
Edward Hospital – Naperville, IL
FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital – Pinehurst, NC
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian – Newport Beach, CA
HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center – Phoenix, AZ
Lovelace Medical Center – Albuquerque, NM
Oklahoma Heart Hospital – Oklahoma City, OK
Saddleback Memorial Medical Center – Laguna Hills, CA
Salem Hospital – Salem, OR
Southcoast Hospitals Group – Fall River, MA
St. David's Medical Center – Austin, TX
OSF St. Joseph Medical Center – Bloomington, IL
St. Patrick Hospital – Missoula, MT

About the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals Report and the 100 Top Hospitals Program

The 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals study is available at 100tophospitals.com. It is published once a year in November. Hospitals may also request customized benchmark reports and comparative analysis on the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by contacting (616) 248-4645 or visiting 100tophospitals.com.

The 100 Top Hospitals program was initiated in 1993. It uses independent and objective research to guide hospital and health system performance. Organizations do not apply or pay for this honor, or pay to promote their award. Award-winning hospitals and health systems prove that better care is possible and provide an example for other organizations to follow across the industry. The 100 Top Hospitals award winners demonstrate top performance on both how patients are cared for through clinical measures and how the hospital performs as an efficient business. The 100 Top Hospitals report is published annually in March and is available at 100tophospitals.com. The 100 Top Hospitals report can be acquired in combination with the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals report and may also be customized to reflect a hospital’s specific, criteria-by-criteria measurement as compared to 100 Top Hospitals annual winners.

About Truven Health Analytics

Truven Health Analytics delivers the answers that clients need to improve healthcare quality and access while reducing costs. We provide market-leading performance improvement solutions built on data integrity, advanced analytics, and domain expertise. For more than 40 years, our insights and solutions have been providing hospitals and clinicians, employers and health plans, state and federal government agencies, life sciences companies, and policymakers the facts they need to make confident decisions that directly affect the health and well-being of people and organizations in the U.S. and around the world.

Truven Health Analytics owns some of the most trusted brands in healthcare, such as MarketScan,® 100 Top Hospitals,® Advantage Suite, ® Micromedex, ® Simpler,® ActionOI ® and JWA. Truven Health has its principal offices in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Chicago; and Denver. For more information, please visit truvenhealth.com.

Contacts

For Truven Health Analytics
MEDIA:
J. Roderick, Inc.
Brian Erni, 631-584-2200
brian@jroderick.com
or
To Request a 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals Report:
Truven Health Analytics
Christine Tankersley, 919-864-0582
Christine.tankersley@truvenhealth.com

Release Summary

Truven Health Analytics Names 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals Achieving Highest Level of Clinical and Operational Performance in the U.S.

Contacts

For Truven Health Analytics
MEDIA:
J. Roderick, Inc.
Brian Erni, 631-584-2200
brian@jroderick.com
or
To Request a 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals Report:
Truven Health Analytics
Christine Tankersley, 919-864-0582
Christine.tankersley@truvenhealth.com