PIH Whittier ranked top 50 nationally in cardiovascular care

WHITTIER - PIH Health Hospital - Whittier has been named one of the nation's 50 top cardiovascular hospitals, according to study results released last week.The study by Truven Health Analytics evaluated cardiovascular hospitals' performance is areas such as 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. The winning hospitals were announced in the Nov. 4 edition of "Modern Healthcare" magazine. "This year's 50 top cardiovascular hospitals have delivered excellent care in a time of sweeping change in the healthcare system," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and the 100 Top Hospitals program at Truven Health Analytics. "Their success is a testament to the strong focus by cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, and cardiovascular service administrators and staff on basic care and outcomes." According to Truven Health, if all cardiovascular providers in the U.S. performed at the level of this year's winners, 8,600 additional lives could be saved, and 3,200 additional bypass and angioplasty patients could be complication-free. Savings in healthcare costs would also surpass $1 billion, officials said. "Our integrated delivery system is designed to provide comprehensive and immediate care to our patients with cardiovascular disease," said Rosalio Lopez, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer for PIH Health. "Our excellent clinical outcomes are the result of our care teams working together to care for patients who may experience heart failure, heart attack or coronary heart disease. "As a result our risk-adjusted mortality for open heart surgery, for patients with acute MI (heart attack) and heart failure, are among the best in the country."

********** Published: Nov. 14, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 31