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STUDY: Best Rated Cardiac care in Minnesota
at Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Three Minnesota Hospitals Rated In Top 5% Nationally
Minneapolis, MN 10/10/2001--
An independent health care quality ratings firm has named Abbott
Northwestern Hospital (ANW) as the highest rated hospital in
Minnesota to get care for cardiovascular problems, the leading cause
of death for men and women in the United States.
The national honor came from Health Grades, an independent health
care information company that assesses health care information
nationwide and provides objective report card ratings free to
consumers. In rank order, Health Grades rated the following three
Minnesota hospitals in the top 5 percent nationally for quality of
cardiac services: 1) Abbott Northwestern Hospital (In partnership
with the Minneapolis Heart Institute); 2) St. Mary’s Hospital in
Rochester (Mayo Clinic); and 3) St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth.
Health Grades rates hospitals in five areas of cardiovascular care
– cardiovascular bypass surgery, valve replacement surgery, cardiac
interventional procedures, acute myocardial infarction and congestive
heart failure. A five-star rating represents “the best rated
quality care.” Abbott Northwestern Hospital/Minneapolis Heart
Institute received the five-star designation for top quality clinical
outcomes in all five categories.
“Our staff works extremely hard to provide the best possible care
for our patients,” said Lyle Joyce, M.D., a cardiac surgeon at
Abbott Northwestern Hospital. “A great team has to have pioneers,
innovators and people who make sure all of the little things are done
right. Without a doubt, we’ve got a great team.”
Minnesota’s top-rated cardiac care center is also the top choice
of Minnesota families and referring physicians. Abbott Northwestern
performs more cardiac procedures than any other hospital in the metro
area. Nearly 50,000 patients from around the state, nation and world
obtain cardiac care at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. About 50
percent of ANW-MHI’s cardiology patients come from outside the
seven- county metropolitan area.
The fact that ANW-MHI cardiac services are chosen by so many
patients and referring physicians may actually contribute to its
quality achievements. Studies have found a correlation between the
volume of procedures done by physicians and the outcomes for
patients. For example, a Duke University Medical Center review of
Medicare records shows that patients cared for by physicians who are
the most experienced at performing angioplasty are less likely to
suffer complications. Angioplasty is a procedure in which a small
balloon is threaded into an artery and inflated to clear an
obstruction.
“This ranking shows that our work to develop cardiovascular care
as one of our Centers of Excellence is paying off,” said Robert L.
Ryan, Chairman of the Abbott Northwestern Board of Directors. “We
believe less invasive treatment can lead to higher quality health
care and lower costs for payers.”
Beyond Health Grades’ review of clinical quality outcomes, Abbott
Northwestern Hospital has also rated highly with consumers. In 1999,
the National Research Corporation found that consumers ranked Abbott
Northwestern as the leading metro hospital for “Best Overall
Quality,” “Best Reputation,” “Best Doctors,” “Best Nurses,”
and “Most Personalized Care.”
Many cardiac techniques now in use around the world were first
performed in Minnesota by MHI physicians. Some of the pioneering
efforts include: Only center in the Twin Cities to have implanted
drug-eluding stents to prevent restenosis; One of only five centers
in the world to be investigating intracoronary ultrasound to prevent
restenosis; First center to implant the Symbion total artificial
heart in Minnesota in a woman and child; First center to perform
intracoronary radiation in the Twin Cities; One of the first double
lung transplants in the U.S.; One of the first in the nation to use
an artificial vein graft in bypass surgery ; and About 67 percent of
current bypass surgeries are done without using heart lung bypass
machine, eliminating the discomfort and risk associated with stopping
and restarting a patient’s heart.
“We are very proud of our quality and patient satisfaction
ratings,” said Bjorn Flygenring, M.D. of the Minneapolis Heart
Institute. “We are consistently pursuing opportunities to improve
service to our patients.”
According to the American Heart Association, heart attacks,
strokes and related cardiovascular diseases account for 60 percent of
all deaths in the nation, killing more Americans annually than the
next seven leading causes of death combined, including all cancers.
Cardiovascular diseases cost Americans an estimated $326.6 billion
annually in direct health care and related expenses.
Health Grades is a health care information company based in
Lakewood, Colorado, that objectively analyzes the performance of more
than 5,000 U.S. hospitals. A team of health care information and
analysis experts developed health Grades’ five-star rating system.
Additional background information is available at
www.mplsheart.com,
www.healthgrades.com, and
www.abbottnorthwestern.com
.
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