NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Southcoast Health today announced that it has been recognized by Healthgrades as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care, Cardiac Surgery and Pulmonary Care, as well as among the Top 5 percent in the Nation in Patient Safety and a recipient of the Patient Safety Excellence Award. Healthgrades is the leading online resource helping consumers make informed decisions in order to find the right doctor, the right hospital and the right care.

Areas where Southcoast Health received recognition for the first time include Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care and a Five-Star Rating for Treatment of Heart Failure.

“These recognitions are further testimony that Southcoast Health is providing a level of care that is on par with the best hospitals in the U.S.,” said Keith Hovan, President & CEO of Southcoast Health. “At the forefront of this achievement is our dedication to improving quality care and patient safety, which is represented by these awards of excellence.”

These achievement are part of new findings and data released this week on Healthgrades.com and in the Healthgrades 2015 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.

“As Americans take increasing responsibility when it comes to their health, it is more important than ever for consumers to access objective measures of quality when selecting a physician and hospital,’ said Evan Marks, Chief Strategy Officer, Healthgrades. “Consumers who select a physician associated with a hospital with Healthgrades 5-star performance in a specific procedure or condition can potentially improve their health outcomes and reduce costs.”

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:

Hospital Wide

• Recipient of the Healthgrades 2014 Patient Safety Excellence Award™
• Named Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Patient Safety in 2014

America’s 100 Best by Specialty

• One of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care™ for 4 Years in a Row (2012-2015)
• One of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery™ for 3 Years in a Row (2012-2014)
• One of Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care™ in 2015 (NEW)

Cardiac

• Recipient of the Healthgrades Cardiac Care Excellence Award™ for 9 Years in a Row (2007-2015)
• Recipient of the Healthgrades Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award™ for 4 Years in a Row (2012-2015)
• Named Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Overall Cardiac Services for 9 Years in a Row (2007-2015)
• Named Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Cardiac Surgery for 4 Years in a Row (2012-2015)
• Five-Star Recipient for Coronary Bypass Surgery for 4 Years in a Row (2012-2015)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Failure in 2015 (NEW)

Neurosciences

• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Stroke for 4 Years in a Row (2012-2015)

Pulmonary

• Recipient of the Healthgrades Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ for 6 Years in a Row (2010-2015)
• Named Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Overall Pulmonary Services for 2 Years in a Row (2014-2015)
• Named Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Overall Pulmonary Services for 6 Years in a Row (2010-2015)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for 7 Years in a Row (2009-2015)
• Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Pneumonia for 5 Years in a Row (2011-2015)

Prostate Surgery

• Five-Star Recipient for Transurethral Prostate Resection Surgery for 3 Years in a Row (2013-2015)

Maternity Care

• Recipient of the Healthgrades 2014 Maternity Care Excellence Award™ – only MA recipient
• Recognized by Healthgrades in 2014 for Superior Performance in Maternity Care
• Among the Top 10% of Hospitals Evaluated for Maternity Care in 2014
• Five-Star Recipient for Maternity Care in 2014

Detailed performance information, such as cohort-specific outcomes data and quality achievements, as well as more information on the Healthgrades 2015 Report to the Nation, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.

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