Study Finds Quality of Care at

St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana is #1, Again

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (October 15, 2007) For the third consecutive year, St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana (SVHCI) is ranked as the number one provider of overall cardiac care in Indiana, according to a HealthGrades study of hospital quality in America released today.  Just 21 hospitals in the U.S. have been ranked number one in their respective states for the past three years for overall cardiac care, and SVHCI is the only one within the five-state region of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

The HealthGrades study also ranks SVHCI number one in Indiana for cardiology and cardiac interventions (such as angioplasty) each for the third straight year.

SVHCI will also give back to the community and encourage the prevention and detection of heart disease by offering HeartScan screenings for a discounted price of $99.00.  The HeartScan is a coronary artery scan that measures the amount of calcified or hardened plaque inside the arteries of the heart.

“The Mission for St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana calls for high quality care, exceptional customer service and teamwork,” says John Stewart, President and CEO for St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana.  “We are very proud and excited to be recognized for having accomplished this for three consecutive years, both in Indiana and nationally.  Our Mission is also about the prevention of heart disease, and we believe that by offering our HeartScan screenings at an affordable price, more individuals will be educated and aware of their heart health.”

According to the HealthGrades study, SVHCI has scored among the top five percent of hospitals nationally over the past three years for overall cardiac care, cardiology, and cardiac interventions, and among the top ten percent of hospitals nationally for cardiac surgery for the past two years, leading to the following awards:

ü        2008 Cardiac Care Excellence Award™

ü        2008 Coronary Interventions Excellence Award™

ü        2008 Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award™

Patients admitted to the nation’s top-performing hospitals, five-star hospitals like SVHCI, have, on average, a 71 percent lower chance of dying, than those treated at one-star hospitals, across 18 procedures and conditions, according to a study released today by HealthGrades. HealthGrades is the nation’s leading independent ratings company.

According to The Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study, SVHCI also received the following recognitions:

ü        5-Star Rated for Overall Cardiac Services for the Third Consecutive Year

ü        5-Star Rated for Cardiology for the Third Consecutive Year

ü        5-Star Rated for Cardiac Surgery

ü        5-Star Rated for Coronary Bypass Surgery for the Second Consecutive Year

ü        5-Star Rated for Coronary Interventions for the Fourth Consecutive Year

ü        5-Star Rated for the Treatment of Heart Attacks for the Fourth Consecutive Year

ü        5-Star Rated for the Treatment of Heart Failure for the Fourth Consecutive Year

ü        5-Star Rated for the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation for the Second Consecutive Year

“Our research shows that while the overall quality of hospital care in America is improving, the gap between the best-performing hospitals and the worst persists,” said Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades’ chief medical officer and author of the study. “This persistent gap makes it imperative that anyone planning to be admitted to a hospital do their homework and seek out highly rated facilities.”

The Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study identifies key trends in the quality of care provided by approximately 5,000 hospitals nationwide. HealthGrades researchers analyzed Medicare discharges from every U.S. hospital between 2004 and 2006. Risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates were calculated and hospitals were assigned a 1-star (poor), 3-star (as expected), or 5-star (best) quality rating for 28 diagnoses and procedures from heart failure to hip replacement to pneumonia. Individual hospital quality results from this study are available at www.healthgrades.com.

Among the study’s key findings:

• Large gaps persist between the “best” and the “worst” hospitals across all procedures and conditions studied. Five-star rated hospitals, such as SVHCI had significantly lower risk-adjusted mortality across all three years studied.

• Across all procedures and conditions studied, there was an approximate 71 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital.

• Across all procedures and conditions studied, there was an approximate 52 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to the U.S. hospital average.

The 2008 HealthGrades ratings for all hospitals nationwide are available, free of charge, on the organization’s award-winning consumer Web site, located at www.healthgrades.com.  More than three million individuals and employees of some of the nation’s largest employers and health plans visit HealthGrades each month to access quality information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians. HealthGrades also provides consumers and payers with detailed assessments of hospitals’ patient-safety outcomes, based on indicators developed by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

About St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana

St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana (SVHCI) is an entire complex of facilities and medical specialists focused on providing advanced, specialized treatment of cardiovascular disease in a warm, comfortable and caring environment. SVHCI was the first free-standing heart hospital in the Indianapolis metro area when it opened four and a half years ago, and is a joint venture between St.Vincent Health and the physicians and surgeons of The Care Group, LLC and CorVasc MD's P.C. In addition to a state-of-the-art medical and surgical 80-bed hospital, SVHCI is home to a 24/7 Heart Emergency Unit. 

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