POMONA, Calif., Oct. 24, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Healthgrades announced today that Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC) has been recognized by Healthgrades as one of America's 100 Best hospitals for Cardiac Surgery, Coronary Interventions and Overall Cardiac Care. PVHMC is the only hospital in Southern California to achieve Excellence Awards in Cardiac Surgery, Coronary Interventions, and Overall Heart Care and is one of only four hospitals recognized in the state.
"It is truly an honor to be the only hospital in Southern California recognized by Healthgrades for excellence in coronary interventions, cardiac surgery and overall heart care," said Richard E. Yochum, FACHE, PVHMC President/CEO. "This recognizes our commitment to providing the best cardiac care to patients throughout the region."
Healthgrades, the leading online resource helping consumers make informed decisions in order to find the right doctor, the right hospital and the right care, evaluated nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide across 33 of the most common procedures and conditions and identified the top performing hospitals within each procedure.
"Patients who choose PVHMC's Stead Heart and Vascular Center have the comfort of knowing they are part of the Inland Valley's top rated, comprehensive heart program," said Rama K. Thumati. M.D, Medical Director of Cardiology Services at PVHMC. "We offer advanced technology and clinical innovation that allows us to deliver the highest standards of cardiac care."
These achievements are part of findings released today online and in the Healthgrades 2015 Report to the Nation, which demonstrates how clinical performance differs dramatically between hospitals and the impact that this variation may have on health outcomes and organizational costs. For example, from 2011-2013, if all hospitals as a group, performed similarly to hospitals receiving 5-stars as a group, on average 228,426 lives could potentially have been saved and 169,298 complications could potentially have been avoided.*
The variation in patient care is dramatic; from 2011-2013, patients having Valve Surgery in hospitals with 5-star ratings have, on average a 71.2% lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals with 1-star ratings. And, conversely, patients undergoing Valve Surgery in hospitals with 1-star ratings are, on average, 3.5 times more likely to die than if they were treated at 5-stars rated hospitals.
"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."
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. 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. 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.
About Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center
Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center is a 437-bed, acute care, nationally accredited not-for-profit medical center serving eastern Los Angeles and western San Bernardino counties. PVHMC is one of only four hospitals in California to be named a recipient of the Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award for five consecutive years. PVHMC recently received the prestigious Baby-Friendly designation. In 2013, the Hospital was named one of the nation's Top Performers on Key Quality Measures for excellence in heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia care by The Joint Commission The Hospital was also recognized by Thomson Reuters in 2011 as a 50 Top Cardio Vascular Hospital and a four-time recipient of the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation in the past 16 years. For more information, visit pvhmc.org.
*Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2011 through 2013 and represent 3-year estimates for Medicare patients only.