FALL RIVER, Mass. – Southcoast Health today announced that it has been recognized as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care for the fifth year in a row by Healthgrades (2012-16), the leading online resource for healthcare consumers. Southcoast Health is one of just four hospitals in Massachusetts to receive this distinction for five consecutive years.

In all, Southcoast Health was recognized for superior cardiovascular services in seven areas of care, including receiving the Healthgrades Cardiac Care Excellence Award for the 10th year in a row (2007-16).

“These recognitions are a much-deserved acknowledgement of the tremendous dedication of the team of physicians, nurses and clinical staff at the Southcoast Health Cardiovascular Care Center,” said Dr. Margaret Ferrell, Physician-in-Chief of Cardiovascular Services at Southcoast Health. “Our team provides the highest level of cardiac care to the patients of our region on a daily basis, and so it’s gratifying to see their hard work recognized.”

Southcoast Health also received awards in pulmonary, neurosciences, women’s health, gastrointestinal, orthopedics and critical care, as well as for patient safety. (See the full list below)

These achievement are part of new findings and data released this week on Healthgrades.com and in the Healthgrades 2016 Report to the Nation. For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 40 million Medicare-patient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide, assessing hospital performance relative to each of 33 common conditions and procedures.

“The Healthgrades 2016 Report to the Nation reveals striking disparities in quality at the local level, and underscores why it is vital for consumers to understand outcomes performance at alternative hospitals for specific conditions and procedures,” said Evan Marks, Chief Strategy Officer for Healthgrades. “Hospitals with superior outcomes for certain aspects of care may not perform as well in other areas. Moreover, a major metropolitan area may have many hospitals, but only a few may provide better-than-expected outcomes for the specific care a patient needs. Those hospitals that have achieved the Healthgrades distinction have demonstrated a commitment to exceptional quality care.”

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 better than expected), 3-star (statistically as expected) and 1-star (statistically worse than expected) categories.

The following is a full list of recognitions received by Southcoast Health:

Cardiovascular Services

• One of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care^™ for five years in a row (2012-16)
• Recipient of the Healthgrades Cardiac Care Excellence Award^™ for 10 years in a row (2007-16)
• Top 10% in the Nation for Overall Cardiac Services for 10 years in a row (2007-16)
• Top 10% in the Nation for Cardiology Services in 2016
• Five-Star Recipient for Coronary Bypass Surgery for five years in a row (2012-16)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Attack for 2016
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Failure for two years in a row (2015-16)
• Five-Star Recipient for Defibrillator Procedures in 2016

Pulmonary

• One of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care^™ for two years in a row (2015-16)
• Recipient of the Healthgrades Pulmonary Care Excellence Award^™ for seven years in a row (2010-16)
• Top 5% in the Nation for Overall Pulmonary Services for three years in a row (2014-16)
• Top 10% in the Nation for Overall Pulmonary Services for seven years in a row (2010-16)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for eight years in a row (2009-16)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Pneumonia for six years in a row (2011-15)

Neurosciences

• Recipient of the Healthgrades Stroke Care Excellence Award^™ in 2016
• Top 10% in the Nation for Treatment of Stroke in 2016
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Stroke for five years in a row (2012-16)

Women’s Health

• Recipient of the Healthgrades Women’s Health Excellence Award^™ in 2015
• Top 5% in the Nation for Women’s Health in 2015

Critical Care

• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Respiratory Failure in 2016

Gastrointestinal

• Five-Star Recipient for Esophageal/Stomach Surgeries in 2016

Orthopedics

• Five-Star Recipient for Hip Fracture Treatment in 2016

Hospital Wide

• Recipient of the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award^™ for two years in a row (2014-15)
• Top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety for two years in a row (2014-15)

Detailed performance information, such as cohort-specific outcomes data and quality achievements, as well as more information on the Healthgrades 2016 Report to the Nation, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.

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