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National Study Recognizes Saint Barnabas Medical Center for Clinical Excellence in Women’s Health and Maternity for Livingston, N.J.– Saint Barnabas Medical Center announced today that it has been recognized with a five-star rating for clinical excellence in women’s health and maternity, based on a study issued by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings company. In the HealthGrades Fourth Annual Report on Women’s Health Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals, Saint Barnabas Medical Center ranks in the top 5% in the nation for women’s health services, which includes cardiac and stroke outcomes for women as well as maternity care. Additionally, Saint Barnabas Medical Center received a five-star rating for maternity care and is ranked among the top 5% percent of hospitals for maternity care services. As a result of ranking among the top 5% in the nation, Saint Barnabas Medical Center has been recognized -- for the second year in a row -- with the HealthGrades 2007/2008 Maternity Care Excellence AwardTM and the HealthGrades 2007/2008 Women’s Health Excellence AwardTM. Notably, it is the only hospital in New Jersey to be a dual recipient of both of these awards and one of only 20 in the nation. "These awards are a great testament to the expert care and compassion that our physicians, our nurses and all of our staff provide to our patients and truly speaks to the culture of quality at Saint Barnabas Medical Center," said John F. Bonamo, M.D., M.S., Executive Director. The HealthGrades study analyzed the outcomes of women admitted with heart disease and stroke to more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals. The study found that the risk-adjusted mortality rates for women improved, on average, 8.7 percent from 2003 through 2005, but that a wide disparity in quality existed between the nation’s best and worst hospitals. The best-performing hospitals, those rated with five stars, had an overall risk-adjusted in hospital mortality rate that was 39 percent lower than poor performing hospitals. If all of the 513 hospitals studied performed at the level of the best-performing hospitals during 2003 through 2005, 15,925 deaths among women hospitalized for cardiovascular disease could have been potentially prevented at these 513 hospitals. In recent years, public health campaigns aimed at raising awareness among women about their risks of cardiovascular disease have impacted early recognition of cardiovascular disease (CVD) symptoms and prompted women to seek treatment earlier. Interventions targeted at reducing the risk of late or no detection of CVD symptoms have likely contributed to the mortality improvements found in the study, and they will no doubt continue to improve outcomes for women in future years. For its 2007/2008 ratings, HealthGrades independently analyzed the quality of maternity care, as well as the cardiac and stroke outcomes for women, at hospitals in the 19 states that publish outcomes data, objectively assessing their clinical performance and quality. The 2007/2008 HealthGrades ratings for maternity care are based on a programmatic evaluation including complication rates for c-sections and vaginal deliveries, delivery volume, and neonatal mortality. Women’s Health ratings combine a hospital’s maternity care rating with clinical performance in the treatment of stroke and cardiac services for women, including heart surgery, heart attack, heart failure, and cardiac interventions. The complete methodology can be found in the study posted on HealthGrades’ Web site. “Each year, HealthGrades conducts the largest annual studies of hospital quality in America,” explained Samantha Collier, HealthGrades’ Chief Medical Officer. “The fact is, a close analysis of the data shows that the quality of women’s health services varies widely from hospital to hospital, so it’s important for individuals to have this vital information as they evaluate hospitals.” Saint Barnabas Medical Center was previously awarded the 2007 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ from HealthGrades for ranking among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation, as well as the 2007 HealthGrades Excellence Awards™ in Cardiac and Stroke; the 2006/2007 HealthGrades Excellence Awards™ in Maternity Care and Women’s Health Services; and the 2007 HealthGrades Bariatric Surgery Specialty Excellence Award™. The complete maternity care and women’s health services ratings are published, free of charge, on the HealthGrades Web site, www.healthgrades.com. Date: June 25, 2007 CONTACT: PUBLIC RELATIONS (973) 322-9901 [ top ] |
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