St. Mary’s Health Care System today announced that it has received the Healthgrades 2015 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™.

The distinction places St. Mary’s in the top 5 percent of the more than 4,500 hospitals evaluated nationwide, based solely on its clinical performance as measured by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

“This is the third year in a row St. Mary’s has received the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence,” said St. Mary’s President and CEO Don McKenna. “Quality and patient safety are our top priorities, day-in and day-out. It takes dedication and commitment at every level of our organization to be recognized in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide. I am tremendously proud of our medical staff, clinical staff and ancillary staff for making this recognition possible. 

“Pursing and maintaining excellence is our goal,” McKenna added. “We are always looking for best practices and evidence-based ways to continue to improve. The people in the communities we serve deserve the best we can give them. We truly care about our patients and their families.” 

Nationally, 261 hospitals out of 1,503 eligible hospitals were recognized as recipients of the Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award. Healthgrades named St. Mary’s among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation with high quality care across at least 21 of 32 common inpatient conditions and procedures.  The quality ratings service groups St. Mary’s in the Atlanta region, where 8 of 26 eligible hospitals were recognized as recipients of the Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award.

One example of St. Mary’s quality initiatives is Joint Commission disease-specific certification in five key areas: stroke care, total knee replacement, heart failure care, inpatient diabetes care and spine surgery. In order to meet and maintain these certifications, St. Mary’s must demonstrate compliance with the Joint Commission’s national standards for quality, effective use of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, and an organized approach to performance measurement and improvement.

“Undergoing regular Joint Commission disease-specific certification surveys keeps us focused on the highest standards for care,” said Bruce Middendorf, M.D., St. Mary’s Chief Medical Officer. “Surveys are detail-oriented and rigorous. The process helps keep us on our toes. Standards are constantly improving, which means it takes real dedication to keep abreast of the latest best practices.” 

From 2011 through 2013, Healthgrades Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence, as a group, had a 27.7 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate across 19 procedures and conditions where in-hospital mortality was the clinical outcome, compared to all other hospitals.  During this same period, if all other hospitals performed at the level of Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence across these 19 procedures and conditions, 163,488 lives could potentially have been saved.  For example, patients treated at a hospital that has achieved the Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award had, on average, a 32 percent lower risk of dying from heart failure than if treated at a hospital that did not receive the award.

“The Healthgrades analysis shows that not all hospitals perform equally, so it is important that consumers do their homework when selecting a hospital,” said Evan Marks, Chief Strategy Officer, Healthgrades.  “Those hospitals that have achieved the Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence distinction have demonstrated a commitment to exceptional clinical quality care.” 

St. Mary’s has received numerous Healthgrades awards for 2015, including America’s 100 Best Hospitals for total joint replacement, general surgery and gastrointestinal care. In addition, Healthgrades recognizes St. Mary’s among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for stroke care and overall gastrointestinal services. St. Mary’s also is a recipient of Healthgrades’ 2014 awards for patient safety, outstanding patient experience, and women’s health. 2015 recipients of these awards will be announced later this year.

According to Healthgrades, the 261 recipients of the 2015 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ stand out among the rest for overall clinical excellence across a broad spectrum of care. During the 2015 study period (2011-2013), these hospitals showed superior performance in clinical outcomes for patients in the Medicare population across at least 21 of 32 of the most common inpatient conditions and procedures —as measured by objective performance data (risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complications). To learn more about how Healthgrades determines Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ recipients, please visit www.healthgrades.com/quality.