St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center Named One of the Nation’s 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Thomson Reuters

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Honored Hospitals Deliver Significantly Better Outcomes and Lower Costs

BRIGHTON, MA –St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, a Caritas Family Hospital and teaching affiliate of Tufts University School of Medicine, has been named one of the nation's 2009 100 Top Hospitals® for cardiovascular care by Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters’ annual study — 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks — examined the performance of 971 hospitals by analyzing clinical outcomes for patients diagnosed with heart failure and heart attacks and for those who received coronary bypass surgery or percutaneous cardiovascular interventions (PCI) such as angioplasties. The 2009 winners were announced November 16, 2009 in Modern Healthcare magazine.

According to John J. Holiver, president of St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, “This year's winners demonstrated lower 30-day mortality and readmission rates for heart attack patients. St. Elizabeth’s is proud to be among this caliber of hospitals as it signifies that the care we provide helps patients remain healthier longer avoiding future hospitalizations. The St. Elizabeth’s team are committed to each patient and our efforts clearly make a difference in each patient’s life as this prestigious recognition highlights.”

The 100 Top Hospital’s Study Results and Methodology

The 100 Top Hospitals study focused on short-term, acute care, non-federal US hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of cardiology patients. Thomson Reuters assigned each hospital in the study group to one of three comparison groups. Within the comparison groups, each hospital was ranked on the basis of its performance on each of eight major performance measures using 2008 Medicare cost reports and 2007 and 2008 MedPAR data. Thomson Reuters then summed each hospital’s performance-measure ranking to arrive at a total ranking for the hospital. The hospitals with the best total ranking in each comparison group were selected as the benchmarks.

The measures were calculated for three classes of hospitals with the following number of winners in each:

Teaching with cardiovascular residency programs, 30 winners
Teaching without cardiovascular residency programs, 40 winners
Community, 30 winners

St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, who was recognized in the category “Teaching with cardiovascular residency program”, was one of only six hospitals in Massachusetts to receive this designation.

The study, in its 11th year, found that the 100 Top Hospitals cardiovascular winners have:

17 percent lower mortality rates for heart attack patients.
10 percent lower mortality rates for heart failure patients.
27 percent lower mortality for bypass surgery patients.
22 percent lower mortality following PCI.
Fewer post-operative complications — 99 percent of patients were complication-free.
Close to 12 percent shorter average hospital stay.
12 percent lower cost per case.

“Cardiovascular disease is still the number-one killer in the United States so we look for the hospitals that provide the best care,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs of Thomson Reuters. “These hospitals set the national standard for cardiovascular disease outcomes, process of care, efficiency and lower costs. They deliver significant value to their communities.”

About St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center
St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center is a major academic medical center affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine. Areas of medical excellence include cardiology, neurosciences, bariatric surgery, women’s health, high-risk obstetrics, bone and joint health, hematology/oncology, pulmonary medicine and emergency medicine. St. Elizabeth’s is a member of Caritas Christi Health Care, New England's largest community hospital network. Visit St. Elizabeth’s online at CaritasChristi.org.

About Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: TRI) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TRI). For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

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