Healthgrades Honors Hospitals with Superior Clinical Outcomes

Memorial HermannHOUSTON (January 29, 2013) – Memorial Hermann continues to differentiate itself as one of the top systems in the nation and the market leader in quality outcomes, with five campuses being named as Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence™ by Healthgrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings organization. Placing in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide for superior clinical performance are Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital, Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital, Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital, and Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center.

“This achievement by our hospitals is a testament to our quest to become a High Reliability Organization when it comes to quality and patient safety,” said M. Michael Shabot, M.D., System Chief Medical Officer for Memorial Hermann. “The goal at all of our hospitals is to provide safe and effective care for every patient and family, as measured by 100% compliance with national quality measures, and zero harm such as hospital acquired infections. This recognition by Healthgrades – an independent ratings organization – validates our work, and inspires us to continue keeping our patients safe while in our care.”

Healthgrades’ Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study objectively identifies those hospitals with the best overall clinical performance across 27 medical diagnoses and procedures that the organization rates. The 262 top-performing hospitals represent only 5 percent of the nation’s hospitals and each is designated as a Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence™.

Unlike other hospital quality studies, Healthgrades evaluates hospitals solely on clinical outcomes: risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complications. Healthgrades’ analysis is based on approximately 40 million Medicare discharges for the years 2009 – 2011. Using these top-performing hospitals as a benchmark in this year’s study, Healthgrades quantifies the impact of differences in hospital quality in terms of lives lost.

The Healthgrades study found that:

  • As a group, Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence had a 30.9% lower risk-adjusted mortality rate across 18 procedures and conditions where in-hospital mortality was the clinical outcome, compared to all other hospitals.
  • If all hospitals performed at the level of Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence, 164,414 Medicare lives could potentially have been saved.

This is the ninth year in a row that Memorial Hermann Northwest, Memorial Hermann Southeast, Memorial Hermann Southwest, and Memorial Hermann The Woodlands have been recognized with this award (2005-2013) and the sixth year for Memorial Hermann Memorial City (2008-2013).

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About Memorial Hermann
An integrated health system, Memorial Hermann is known for world-class clinical expertise, patient-centered care, leading edge technology, and innovation. The system, with its exceptional medical staff and more than 20,000 employees, serves to advance health in Southeast Texas and the Greater Houston community. Memorial Hermann’s 12 hospitals include three hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, including the Texas Trauma Institute – a level I trauma center which houses the Life Flight® air ambulance – a hospital for children and a rehabilitation hospital, eight suburban hospitals, and a second rehabilitation hospital in Katy. The system also operates three Heart & Vascular Institutes, the Mischer Neuroscience Institute, two Ironman Sports Medicine Institute locations, cancer centers, imaging and surgery centers, sports medicine and rehabilitation centers, outpatient laboratories, a chemical dependency treatment center, a home health agency, a retirement community and a nursing home. As an Accountable Care Organization, the system also offers employers health solutions and health benefit plans through its wholly owned MHealth, Inc and MHealth Insurance Company.