Virginia Mason announced today it has received the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ for the fourth consecutive year from Healthgrades, an online resource for comprehensive information about U.S. physicians and hospitals.
This award places Virginia Mason among the top 5 percent of the more than 4,500 hospitals surveyed for clinical performance and recognizes it as one of the best health care facilities in the nation. Also, Virginia Mason is the only hospital in Washington to be ranked in the top 5 percent nationally for four straight years.
"Our team members are committed to providing the highest quality care to our patients every day," said Gary S. Kaplan, MD, Virginia Mason chairman and CEO. "This recognition directly reflects our team's focus on our patients."
From 2010 through 2012, the Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence as a group had an overall 26.4 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate for 19 procedures and conditions where in-hospital mortality was the clinical outcome, compared to all other hospitals. During this period, if all other hospitals had performed at the level of those identified as Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence, 156,036 lives could potentially have been saved, according to Healthgrades.
Healthgrades evaluates hospitals solely on clinical outcomes: risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complications. Its analysis is based on Medicare patient records from more than 4,500 hospitals. The 260 top-performing hospitals in Healthgrades' analysis represent 5 percent of the nation's hospitals.
Virginia Mason strategic partner, EvergreenHealth, is among those earning the 2014 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence.
"Today, consumers have unprecedented access to information on hospital performance as it relates to specific conditions and procedures so that they can make more informed decisions about who to see and where to go for care," said Evan Marks, Healthgrades' executive vice president for informatics and strategy. "The Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence enables hospitals to communicate their commitment to providing outstanding patient care and to show their continued efforts to improve clinical outcomes."
