Houston Healthcare receives national recognition of excellence for second year in row

Special to the Journal

Houston

Medical Center has achieved a place on Healthgrades America’s 100 Best™ hospital list for the second year in a row. Healthgrades,

the leading online resource that helps consumers search, evaluate, compare and

connect with physicians and hospitals, evaluated nearly 4,500 hospitals

nationwide based on objective measures of clinical performance. This represents six years of advanced and continuous

clinical quality excellence and patient care for Houston Medical Center.

To be recognized with this distinction, hospitals

must have been designated as a Distinguished

Hospital for Clinical Excellence™ for a minimum of four consecutive years

and had risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates among the lowest five

percent in the nation. Healthgrades’ risk-adjusted methodology considers

important differences in patient demographic and clinical characteristics,

allowing for a more accurate and valid comparison of clinical outcomes at

different hospitals.

“Houston

Medical Center and the entire Houston Healthcare team are proud of this

recognition because it signifies the dedication and commitment of our staff and

physicians to providing quality health care on a daily basis,” says Cary

Martin, Chief Executive Officer for Houston Healthcare. “We work diligently to identify

areas where we can improve our quality initiatives and patient safety measures.

By consistently looking at the way we deliver care, it allows us to provide

enhanced care for all our patients and their families.”

On average, patients treated at America’s 100 Best hospitals

had nearly a 30 percent lower risk of death. If all hospitals lowered their mortality rates to

the level of Houston Medical Center, and the other 99 distinguished members of

this group, 165,636 lives could have potentially been saved nationwide between

2009 and 2011. Houston Medical Center is one of only four hospitals in the

state to receive this recognition.

“Hospitals earn this distinction by providing better than expected outcomes across a broad spectrum of

conditions and procedures over an extended period of time,” said Evan Marks, EVP

Informatics and Strategy. “Consumers

can expect a commitment to exceptional clinical quality care when selecting

among Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals.”

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