It's been a familiar accomplishment the last few years for
Marquette General Health System; it's been named one of the top 100 U.S. hospitals for heart care by research service Thomson Reuters in its annual study.
But this year, the race was tighter, as the 12-year-old study shrank the number of hospitals ranked to just 50 instead of its usual 100. It's a mark of MGHS' heart care quality that it still made it onto the list, and now can claim the title of one of the top 50 hospitals for inpatient cardiovascular services in the country.
"We've chosen a more elite group of winners this year. These hospitals have raised the bar significantly," says Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and the 100 Top Hospitals program at Thomson Reuters.
The study looked at 1,022 hospitals, analyzing outcomes for patients with heart failure and heart attacks, and for patients undergoing heart surgeries of various types. Five hospitals in Michigan were named to the list; MGHS was the only one in the Upper Peninsula.
The standards for the survey were high: To make the list, the top 50 hospitals had statistics better than a 96 percent survival rate for heart patients, and better than a 93 percent rate of patients who remained complication-free. They also had high risk-adjusted survival rates, lower complication rates, fewer patients who were readmitted after discharge, shorter hospital visits and lower costs.
"They deliver higher survival rates, shorter hospital stays, fewer readmissions, and lower costs - which adds up to enormous value for the communities they serve. As a result, everyone benefits: patients, families, employers, insurers and the hospital itself," says Chenoweth.
Thomson Reuters used data from 2008 and 2009 to evaluate the hospitals.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Jean Chenoweth, Thomson Reuters
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