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Truven Health Analytics Announces 50 Top U.S. Hospitals for Heart Care

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) -- Two Michigan hospitals made the list of the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals published by the health care information analysis firm Truven Health Analytics.

The study, now in its 15th year, singled out 50 hospitals that achieved superior clinical outcomes.

"With this year 's 50 Top Cardiovascular award winners, we are seeing the early influence of system efforts to build centers of excellence and develop uniform outcomes across hospitals," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and the 100 Top Hospitals program at Truven Health Analytics. "Sixteen hospitals, representing 32 percent of the winners, are owned by four health systems. This is a significant finding that foreshadows increasingly better outcomes as systems focus on the consistency of results for populations served."

The 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals spent roughly $2,000 less per bypass surgery and about $1,000 less per heart attack patient admitted. The winners were also quicker to release their patients: a half day better than their peers for heart attack, heart failure, and angioplasty cases, and a full day sooner for bypass patients.

If all cardiovascular providers in the U.S. performed at the level of this year's winners, more than 8,600 additional lives could be saved, $1 billion could be saved. and 3,200 additional bypass and angioplasty patients could be complication-free.

The study evaluated general and applicable specialty, short-term, acute care, nonfederal U.S. hospitals treating a broad spectrum of cardiology patients.

Truven Health Analytics researchers analyzed 2011 and 2012 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, 2012 Medicare cost reports and 2013 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Compare data. They scored hospitals in key performance areas: risk-adjusted mortality, risk-adjusted complications, core measures (a group of measures that assess process of care), percentage of coronary bypass patients with internal mammary artery use, 30-day mortality rates, 30-day readmission rates, severity-adjusted average length of stay, and wage- and severity-adjusted average cost.

In the category of Teaching Hospitals With Cardiovascular Residency Programs, Providence Hospital and Medical Center in Southfield was one of 15 hospitals recognized.

In the category Teaching Hospitals Without Cardiovascular Residency Programs, Beaumont Hospital Troy was one of 20 hospitals recognized.

More at www.truvenhealth.com or www.100tophospitals.com

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