Patients admitted to top hospitals for emergency medicine have 40% lower death rate
EDGEWOOD, Ky. (Feb. 23, 2012) —A report released by HealthGrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make an informed decision about a physician or hospital, named St. Elizabeth Edgewood among the top five percent in the nation for emergency medicine and a recipient of the HealthGrades Emergency Medicine Excellence Award three years in a row.
The findings are based on an analysis of more than seven million Medicare patient records from 2008 to 2010. The HealthGrades Emergency Medicine in American Hospitals report focused on 12 of the most common and life-threatening medical emergencies among that patient population, including heart attack, stroke, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
“It is imperative that anyone experiencing a medical emergency go directly to the closest hospital, especially in the event of a heart attack or stroke,” said Dr. Arshad Rahim, report author and Director of Accelerated Clinical Excellence at HealthGrades. “That said, our findings show the care you receive once admitted to the hospital can also make the difference between life and death. We encourage all patients to educate themselves about the quality of emergency medical providers in their area and to choose a top performing hospital whenever there is a choice.”
Other key findings of the HealthGrades report include:
Medicare patients treated at hospitals recognized with a HealthGrades Emergency Medicine Excellence Award had, on average, a 41.52% lower risk of death compared to patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
If all hospitals performed at the level of the Emergency Medicine Excellence Award recipient hospitals from 2008 through 2010, an additional 170,856 people could have potentially survived their emergency hospitalization.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare
St. Elizabeth Healthcare operates six facilities throughout Northern Kentucky—St. Elizabeth Covington, St. Elizabeth Edgewood, St. Elizabeth Falmouth, St. Elizabeth Florence, St. Elizabeth Fort Thomas, and St. Elizabeth Grant. It also has vast resources to serve the Greater Cincinnati area, including almost 1,200 licensed beds, a physician organization which includes 61 primary care and specialty office locations, more than 1,200 physicians with admitting privileges, more than 7,300 associates including St. Elizabeth Physicians, and three freestanding imaging centers. St. Elizabeth Healthcare is sponsored by the Diocese of Covington and provided more than $83 million in uncompensated care and benefit to the community in 2010.
About HealthGrades
HealthGrades is America’s most trusted, independent source of physician information and hospital quality outcomes. HealthGrades’ online properties are the nation’s leading destination for physician search and empower more than 200 million consumers annually to make informed healthcare decisions.
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