Healthgrades Releases 2019 Analysis of Top Quality Hospitals and National Health Index Spotlighting Cities Getting Healthcare Right

DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive
information about physicians and hospitals, released the 2019
Report to the Nation, an analysis of nearly 4,500 acute care
hospitals and their variation in clinical quality and outcomes.
Healthgrades also released the 2019 National
Health Index, a study of cities getting healthcare right.

Healthgrades 2019 Report to the Nation

In the 2019 analysis, Healthgrades evaluated hospital performance
relative to 32 common conditions and procedures, offering insight on the
variation in clinical quality and outcomes across the country. The
analysis found that patients treated at hospitals receiving a 5-star
rating have a lower risk of dying and a 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.
From 2015 through 2017, if all hospitals as a group performed similarly
to hospitals receiving 5-stars as a group, on average 222,210 lives
could potentially have been saved and 157,210 complications could
potentially have been avoided.^*

“Consumers have many choices for healthcare, but most important is
understanding that there is a significant variation in care from
hospital to hospital and doctor to doctor. In fact, hospitals within
close proximity to each other can have significant differences in
complication and mortality rates for the same condition or procedure,”
said Brad Bowman, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “The analysis of
hospital quality is intended to spotlight the importance of doing your
homework before selecting your care. It could be a matter of life or
death.”

Healthgrades National Health Index

Healthgrades also released the 2019 National
Health Index, a study^** of cities across the country
getting healthcare right. Rochester, MN, Burlington, VT, Charleston, SC,
Cincinnati and Baltimore top this year’s list of 100 ranked cities. The
Index evaluated more than a dozen variables, grouped into four health
care factors to determine if a city was getting healthcare right: 1)
whether the residents of each city were healthy overall, 2) if consumers
had access to health care, 3) if local specialists achieved high marks
in patient satisfaction and physician count per capita and 4) if
patients had access to high quality hospitals, determined using the
Healthgrades 2019 hospital quality analysis.

“The National Health Index is designed to help consumers understand the
health of their community, to empower them to navigate their care
journey with confidence and to help them access the right care in their
market,” said Archelle Georgiou, MD, senior advisor to Healthgrades and
author of Healthcare Choices. “Health and healthcare is comprised
of many different factors. To understand whether a city is getting
healthcare right is complex, which is why Healthgrades compiled numerous
industry data sets to help paint a more complete picture of healthcare
at the local level in cities across the country.”

The Healthgrades National Health Index also found that:

• The residents of San Francisco, CA, were the healthiest of all cities
  on the list, and received high scores across population health factors
  that were assessed.
• Worcester, MA topped the list with the highest access to health care.
• Residents of Rochester, MN reported the highest satisfaction with and
  had the greatest number of specialists per capita.
• Rochester, MN’s population has the best access to high quality
  hospitals.

*Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for
years 2015 through 2017 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare
patients only.

**The
National Health Index is a measure that evaluates health and
healthcare in metropolitan areas and is based on data from four sources:
selected responses from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2016 survey at
the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)-level; provider specialty
information and patient experience survey scores available from
Healthgrades.com at the Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA) accessed on
September 5, 2019; 2017 population estimates from the United States
Census Bureau; and Healthgrades 2019 award year hospital quality ratings
at the MSA-level.

About Healthgrades

Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful
connections between patients and their healthcare providers. At www.healthgrades.com,
we help millions of consumers a month to find and schedule appointments
with their provider of choice. With our scheduling solutions and
advanced analytics applications, we help more than 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.

Contacts

Healthgrades
Jen Newman
jnewman@healthgrades.com
or
Liz
Boten
lboten@healthgrades.com