Trinity Regional Medical Center 802 Kenyon Road Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501 515.573.3101

Trinity Regional Medical Center Named One of the Nation's Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters’ annual study — 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks — examined the performance of 971 hospitals by analyzing clinical outcomes for patients diagnosed with heart failure and heart attacks and for those who received coronary bypass surgery or percutaneous cardiovascular interventions (PCI) such as angioplasties. 

This is the second time Trinity Regional Medical Center has been recognized with this honor. The 2009 winners were announced November 16 in Modern Healthcare magazine.

Cardiovascular disease is still the number-one killer in the United States so we look for the hospitals that provide the best care,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs of Thomson Reuters. “These hospitals set the national standard for cardiovascular disease outcomes, process of care, efficiency, and lower costs. They deliver significant value to their communities.”

The study, in its 11th year, found that the 100 Top Hospitals cardiovascular winners have:

• 17 percent lower mortality rates for heart attack patients.

• 10 percent lower mortality rates for heart failure patients.

• 27 percent lower mortality for bypass surgery patients.

• 22 percent lower mortality following PCI.

• Fewer post-operative complications — 99 percent of patients were complication-free.

• Close to 12 percent shorter average hospital stay.12 percent lower cost per case. 

To be one of only 30 community hospitals in the nation to receive this award is extraordinary!  This recognition speaks to the hard work, commitment and investment made by the physicians, staff and community in Cardiology Services at Trinity,” stated Sue Thompson, Trinity Regional Medical Center CEO. “We are honored to receive this unsolicited award because it comes to us based on merit. We continue to work hard to improve the quality of services at Trinity for the people of Fort Dodge and the surrounding communities. 

In 1999 Trinity Regional Medical Center partnered with the Iowa Heart Center, one of the nations premier cardiovascular medicine practices. Trinity’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab cared for its first patient on April 17, 2000. In the first year, 960 procedures were performed in the Cath Lab. Since that time the number of procedures has nearly doubled to approximately 1850. The excellent quality care is a result of the exceptional Cardiology staff of the Iowa Heart Center and Trinity’s highly trained medical and hospital staff. 

The 100 Top Hospitals study focused on short-term, acute care, non-federal U.S. hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of cardiology patients. Thomson Reuters researchers analyzed 2007 and 2008 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, 2008 Medicare cost reports, and data from other sources. They scored hospitals in key performance areas: risk-adjusted medical mortality, risk-adjusted surgical mortality, risk-adjusted complications, core measures score, percentage of coronary bypass patients with internal mammary artery use, procedure volume, severity-adjusted average length of stay, and wage- and severity-adjusted average cost.   

The measures were calculated for three classes of hospitals with the following number of winners in each:

• Teaching with cardiovascular residency programs, 30 winners

• Teaching without cardiovascular residency programs, 40 winners

• Community, 30 winners

About Thomson Reuters
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