Press release

Healthgrades Releases 2020 Analysis of Top Hospitals Nationwide

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Healthgrades, the leading online resource for information about physicians and hospitals, today released its 2020 analysis of top performing hospitals. Healthgrades evaluated the performance of nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide, assessing clinical outcomes across 32 procedures and conditions. Healthgrades’ 2020 Specialty Excellence AwardTM recognizes leading hospitals that are ranked in the top 10% in key specialties such as cardiac surgery, stroke care, joint replacement and critical care.

Healthgrades also released the 2020 Report to the Nation, entitled “Putting Hospital Quality into Perspective,” which underscores the importance of hospital quality for both consumers and hospital leaders. This report also outlines changing perceptions of hospital quality and how quality impacts and drives health care decisions.

“Since we started reporting on hospital quality over 20 years ago, consumers have become increasingly savvy when it comes to researching their health and now expect greater transparency as it relates to hospital quality,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “At Healthgrades, we’re committed to providing the most relevant data that focuses on clinical outcomes so that consumers can make the smartest decisions for their own care. We commend those hospitals that have achieved recognition for their long-standing commitment to quality outcomes.”

The 2020 Report to the Nation provides consumers with the information that shows the importance of hospital quality, as well as the significant variation in health outcomes between different hospitals across the country. The 2020 Healthgrades analysis found that:

  • Patients treated at hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have a 49% lower risk of dying and a 59% lower risk of experiencing one or more complications during a hospital stay than if they were treated at hospitals receiving a 1-star rating in that procedure or condition.
  • If all hospitals as a group performed similarly to hospitals receiving 5-stars as a group, from 2016-2018, 220,019 lives could potentially be saved and 149,403 complications could potentially be avoided among Medicare patients alone.*

Specifically, the Healthgrades 2020 Specialty Excellence AwardTM analysis recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. This provides greater transparency for consumers, physicians, and healthcare professionals by surfacing top hospital performers in key specialties nationwide. See the full list of Specialty Excellence recipients.

When It Comes to Hospitals, You Do Have a CHOICE

As hospital quality remains top of mind, consumers have a CHOICE when it comes to selecting and choosing where they receive care. Healthgrades recommends that people consider the following six questions before selecting a provider:

  • Clinical Quality: What is this provider’s track record for your condition or procedure?
  • How Often: With what frequency does the doctor deliver this treatment or perform this procedure?
  • Options for Treatment: Have I asked my doctor about all possible treatment options before moving forward with this procedure?
  • Insurance: What will my out-of-pocket costs be and how could my cost be impacted if there is a complication?
  • Complications: Am I at higher or lower risk of procedure complications or non-treatment related infection at this hospital?
  • Experience of Patients: What do other patients say?

“Not only do consumers understand that they have a choice about where to receive health care, but they know they should assess a variety of factors before selecting a new provider,” said Dr. Bowman. “Healthgrades makes this information easier to understand and more accessible so that consumers can feel confident in their health care decisions.”

For more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality, access the complete methodology. Learn more about how hospitals partner with Healthgrades.

About Healthgrades

Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. At Healthgrades, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their provider of choice. With our scheduling solutions and advanced analytics applications, we help our health system clients representing over 1,500 hospitals across the country to cultivate new patient relationships, improve patient access, and build customer loyalty. At Healthgrades, better health gets a head start.

* Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2016 through 2018 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.