October 5, 2007

Mercy Receives Six More National Honors and Several State No. 1 Rankings

HealthGrades study finds patient outcomes at Mercy among nation’s best for
cardiac services, vascular surgery, orthopedic services and general surgery

Mercy Medical Center—Sioux City is the recipient of six national awards for specialty excellence in cardiac care, coronary interventional procedures, vascular surgery, orthopedic surgery, joint replacement, and general surgery, according to a new comprehensive study released today by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings company.

The half-dozen HealthGrades 2008 Specialty Excellence Awards will be presented to Mercy’s leaders and staff members Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. in the hospital’s South Lobby.

Mercy is the only hospital in Iowa to receive all six recognitions for excellence. The medical center is also the only hospital in the state to receive the Vascular Surgery Excellence Award three years in a row, 2006 through 2008, and is the only healthcare facility in the state to be recognized with the 2008 Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award.

The independent study also found that Mercy Medical Center—Sioux City ranks number one in Iowa for overall cardiac services, heart surgery, cardiology services, coronary interventional procedures, joint replacement surgery, and overall orthopedic services. This marks the fourth year in a row that Mercy has ranked first in the state for coronary interventional procedures. Mercy is also rated best in northwestern Iowa for general surgery.

According to the Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study, Mercy Medical Center—Sioux City ranks among the top 10 percent nationally for overall cardiac services, and vascular surgery. Mercy ranks in the top 5 percent of the nation’s hospitals for orthopedic surgery and general surgery. The study, the largest of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes at virtually all of the nation's 5,000 hospitals over the years 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Mercy received five-star ratings – the top rating – for patient outcomes in cardiology services, coronary bypass surgery, coronary interventional procedures, carotid surgery, total knee replacement, total hip replacement, hip fracture repair, back and neck surgery without spinal fusion, appendectomy, and cholecystectomy (gall bladder surgery). “Mercy is deeply honored to receive the news from the latest HealthGrades quality study,” said Paul Dougherty, the hospital’s president and CEO. “The six new awards and several number one rankings in the state are a testament to the quality of care delivered by our staff members and physician partners. They have willfully and carefully created a culture of excellence that is dedicated to Faith-Inspired Service and Healing.”

“Thanks to that extraordinary patient-centered culture, the regional community can be assured that some of the best medical care in the nation is available right here at Mercy Medical Center.”

The six national awards that will be presented to Mercy on Tuesday will be the latest entries on what has become a long list of honors and accolades for the medical center in recent years. Multiple awards from several different sources have honored the hospital for quality of care, its clinical outcomes, and patient safety.

Based on the study, HealthGrades today made available its 2008 quality ratings for virtually every hospital in the country at www.healthgrades.com, a Web site designed to help individuals research and compare local healthcare providers.

The Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study identifies key trends in the quality of hospital-based care. HealthGrades researchers analyzed Medicare discharges from virtually every U.S. hospital between 2004 and 2006. Risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates were calculated and hospitals were assigned a 1-star (poor), 3-star (as expected), or 5-star (best) quality rating for 28 diagnoses and procedures from heart failure to hip replacement to pneumonia.

“Consumers routinely use quality ratings to comparison shop for cars, appliances and travel accommodations,” said Sarah Loughran, HealthGrades executive vice president. “Our research provides patients with the information they need to make informed decisions about where to seek medical care, a decision that could mean the difference between life and death.”

“It is important for residents to know that they can find high-quality care at Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City,” Loughran added.
Among the study’s key findings:

• Gaps persist between the “best” and the “worst” hospitals across all procedures and conditions studied. Five-star rated hospitals had statistically significantly lower risk-adjusted mortality across all three years studied.
• Across all procedures and conditions studied, there was an approximate 71 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital.
• Across all procedures and conditions studied, there was an approximate 52 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to the U.S. hospital average.

The 2008 HealthGrades ratings for all hospitals nationwide are available, free of charge, on the organization’s award-winning consumer Web site, located at www.healthgrades.com. More than three million individuals and employees of some of the nation’s largest employers and health plans visit HealthGrades each month to access quality information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians. HealthGrades also provides consumers and payers with detailed assessments of hospitals’ patient-safety outcomes, based on indicators developed by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.