Baxter Regional Medical Center is proud to announce that it has been recognized
as the only Hospital in Arkansas to be named One of Healthgrades®
America's 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery™ in 2018 and
the only Hospital in Arkansas to be named among the Top 5% in the Nation
for Patient Safety in 2017! This announcement is according to this year’s
evaluation from Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive
information about physicians and hospitals. Every year, Healthgrades evaluates
hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 34 of the
most common inpatient procedures and conditions.*
David Fox, BRMC VP/Chief Operating Officer; Ron Peterson, BRMC President
& CEO; Garrett Spry, District Director of Quality Solutions, Healthgrades;
Shannon Nachtigal VP/Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer with
the Healthgrades® Patient Safety Excellence Award™; Dr. Louis
Elkins, cardiovascular surgeon, with the Healthgrades® America's
50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery™ in 2018 recognition; and
Barney Larry, BRMC VP/Business Development and Baxter Regional Hospital
Foundation Executive Director.
Garrett Spry, District Director of Quality Solutions, Healthgrades, was
on the BRMC campus to present the awards today, stressing that these awards
are based on actual patient outcomes of our hospital. This is the fourth
consecutive year that BRMC was named One of Healthgrades® America's
50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery™, as the only hospital in
Arkansas to achieve this distinction.
“It is truly an honor to receive this designation, but the affirmation
that we’re reducing mortality and complications here in Mountain
Home is extremely humbling. We as a team are honored to accept this award,”
said Ron Peterson, BRMC President & CEO, while recognizing the physicians
in attendance, Dr. Louis Elkins, cardiovascular surgeon, and Dr. Patrick
Tobbia, cardiologist, as well as other members of the BRMC Heart Team.
The Healthgrades 2017 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ is a designation
that recognizes superior performance in hospitals that have prevented
the occurrence of serious, potentially avoidable complications for patients
during hospital stays. The distinction places BRMC among the top 5% of
hospitals reporting patient safety data in the nation for its excellent
performance as evaluated by Healthgrades.
During the 2013-2015 study period, Healthgrades found that patients treated
in hospitals receiving the Patient Safety Excellence Award were, on average:
- 40.0% less likely to experience an accidental puncture or laceration during
a procedure, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 44.6% less likely to experience a collapsed lung due to a procedure or
surgery in or around the chest, than patients treated at non-recipient
hospitals.
- 54.4% less likely to experience catheter-related bloodstream infections
acquired at the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
- 50.2% less likely to experience pressure sores or bed sores acquired in
the hospital, than patients treated at non-recipient hospitals.
On average, 134,568 patient safety events could have been avoided if all
hospitals, as a group from 2013 to 2015, performed similarly to hospitals
performing better than expected on each of 13 patient safety indicators
evaluated by Healthgrades. These achievements are part of findings released
Healthgrades and are featured in their
2018 Report to the Nation. The report demonstrates how clinical performance continues to differ
dramatically between hospitals nationally, regionally and at the local
level, and the impact that this variation may have on health outcomes.
“Consumers place high value on information about hospital quality
and use it to evaluate their choices for care,” said Brad Bowman,
MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “Hospitals that have achieved
recognition for their quality outcomes prove their commitment to their
patients and their community at large.”
*For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare
inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide
to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures,
and evaluate outcomes using all-payer data provided by 17 states. Healthgrades
recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific
performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality.
Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-star (statistically
significantly better than expected), 3-star (not statistically different
from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected)
categories. The complete Healthgrades
2018 Report to the Nation and detailed study methodology, can be found at
www.healthgrades.com/quality.