NATIONAL STUDY FINDS DEL SOL MEDICAL CENTER IN TOP 5% FOR MULTIPLE PROCEDURES AND DIAGNOSES
Del Sol Medical Center is ranked among the top 5% in the nation for GI Surgery and General Surgery by HealthGrades®, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization. The nation’s nearly 5,000 hospitals were all included in this sweeping study, which examined mortality rates and complication rates from government data from 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Del Sol Medical Center received the following HealthGrades 2011 Awards and national designations:
• Ranked #5 in Texas for GI Surgery
• Recipient of the HealthGrades Gastrointestinal Surgery Excellence Award™ and Ranked among the top 5% in the Nation for Gastrointestinal Surgery
• Recipient of the HealthGrades General Surgery Excellence Award™ and Ranked among the top 5% in the Nation for General Surgery
•Five Star Rated for:
o Treatment of Heart Failure
o GI Surgery
o GI Medical Treatment
o GI Surgeries and Procedures
o Treatment of Pancreatitis
o Cholecystectomy
o General Surgery
o Appendectomy
“This is the second time in the past month that we have received national recognition for the quality of our services at Del Sol Medical Center,” said Jacob Cintron, CEO of the hospital. “We are very pleased to be ranked among the top in the country, but it is especially significant because it reflects our dedication to the health of our community by providing the highest quality care possible.”
The Thirteenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America study, the largest annual report of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes from nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records over a three-year period. HealthGrades’ hospital ratings are the leading objective, actionable quality measures based solely on clinical performance made available to the public.
Top-performing hospitals had dramatically lower mortality rates than other hospitals, according to the study. For the 17 procedures and diagnoses for which HealthGrades analyzed mortality rates, patients at top hospitals had a 72% lower chance of dying when compared with the lowest-performing hospitals, and a 53% lower chance of dying when compared to the U.S. national average.
HealthGrades Hospital Quality Ratings
HealthGrades rates hospitals independently based on data that hospitals submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.
For 26 procedures and medical treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital’s mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for equal comparisons.