December 14th, 2018 by WCBC Radio

Western Maryland Health System is five-star rated for coronary bypass surgery, valve surgery, hip fracture treatment and pneumonia treatment according to a study recently released by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. WMHS was also recognized for the fifth consecutive year with the Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award for the years 2015-19, which honors the health system for being the in the top 10 percent for cardiac surgery among hospitals in the nation.

 

These achievements are part of findings and data featured in the Healthgrades 2019 Report to the Nation. The new report demonstrates how clinical performance continues to differ dramatically between hospitals regionally and nationally. “Clinical quality varies significantly between hospitals, so it’s important for consumers to use information about outcomes to assess where to receive care,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Healthgrades. “These five-star ratings showcase the expertise and commitment of Western Maryland Health System to its patients.

 

When it comes to the high marks for cardiac surgery, Bowman said, “With so many choices for care, consumers often find that their health journey can be difficult to navigate. Information about hospital quality is helpful as they make decisions for their health, and WMHS has distinguished itself as an exceptional organization for cardiac sugery.”

 

Variation in care has a significant impact on health outcomes. For example, from 2015 through 2017, if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to hospitals receiving five stars as a group, then on average 222,210 lives could potentially have been saved and 157,210 in-hospital complications could potentially have been avoided. A five-star rating indicates that WMHS’ clinical outcomes are statistically significantly better than expected when treating the condition or performing the procedure being evaluated.

           

“We are very proud to have so many of our services recognized by Healthgrades,” said Barry Ronan, WMHS President and CEO. “When WMHS is recognized for its quality standards and excellence in care, it is yet another confirmation of our commitment to serve our area with the highest quality.”

 

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for almost 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures, and evaluated outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 15 states and the District of Columbia. 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), 3-star (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected) categories. The complete Healthgrades 2019 Report to the Nation and detailed study methodology can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.