Cardiac Services Cited in Ninth Annual HealthGrades Study
Modesto, CA (January 18, 2007) – Doctors Medical Center of Modesto announced its clinical outcomes for coronary interventional procedures continue to be nationally recognized, according to a comprehensive study released by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare ratings company. For the fourth year in a row, Doctors Medical Center received HealthGrades top rating - five-stars - for its cardiac interventional procedures including angioplasties and stents. The hospital continues to be the only hospital in the area to receive HealthGrades’ five-star rating for these procedures. The interventional procedures’ clinical outcomes have placed Doctors Medical Center among the top ten hospitals in California for four consecutive years.
"Quality patient care continues to be our top priority," said Denny Litos, Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased that HealthGrades has recognized Doctors Medical Center as a five star facility for four consecutive years. We are proud to offer a high quality cardiac program to the residents of our community, where they may receive local care, without having to travel."
As part of its ninth annual Hospital Quality in America Study, HealthGrades independently analyzed more than 5,000 hospitals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for its 2007 ratings, objectively assessing their clinical outcomes and quality. The 40 million hospitalization records utilized in the assessment are publicly available and licensed from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The HealthGrades ratings take into account varying degrees of patient severity from hospital to hospital and measure whether patient outcomes for each of more than two dozen procedures and diagnoses are better than expected (5-Star), as expected (3-Star) or worse than expected (1-Star).
“Consumers continue to ask for more and better information to help them in their health care decision making,” said Samantha Collier, M.D., HealthGrades’ vice president of medical affairs. “Our analysis provides an apples-to-apples comparison of hospital performance by procedure or diagnosis, and it is evident there is significant variance between individual hospitals. For Doctors Medical Center of Modesto to continue to rate among the nation’s best for cardiac interventional procedures reflects the efforts of everybody in the organization, and should be very comforting to area residents.”
The 2007 HealthGrades ratings for all hospitals nationwide are available, free of charge, on HealthGrades’ consumer Web site, located at www.healthgrades.com. More than two and a half million individuals and employees of more than 125 major employers visit the HealthGrades web site every month to access quality information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians. HealthGrades also provides consumers and payers with detailed assessments of hospitals’ patient-safety outcomes, based on indicators developed by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
About Doctors Medical Center of Modesto
Doctors Medical Center of Modesto (DMC), part of Tenet California, is a 465-bed acute care hospital located at 1441 Florida Ave. in Modesto. DMC offers a wide range of services, including cardiology, neurology, emergency and trauma services, women and children’s services, orthopedics, medical/surgical, oncology and critical/intensive care. Doctors Medical Center is ranked among the top five percent of hospitals nationally for cardiac interventions according to HealthGrades, a leading provider of independent hospital ratings. Doctors Medical Center also received the American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines - Coronary Artery Disease Initial Performance Achievement Award for implementing a higher standard of cardiac care that effectively improves treatment of patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease. DMC employs more than 2,400 employees and has 500 affiliated physicians. DMC is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency. To learn more about Doctors Medical Center of Modesto visit www.dmc-modesto.com.
About HealthGrades
HealthGrades (Nasdaq:HGRD) is the leading healthcare ratings company, providing ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers, corporations, health plans and hospitals. Millions of consumers and hundreds of the nation’s largest employers, health plans and hospitals rely on HealthGrades’ independent ratings to make healthcare decisions based on the quality of care. More information on the company can be found at http://www.healthgrades.com.