KINGSPORT
– For the second time in three years, Holston Valley Medical Center has been named one of America’s 100 best heart hospitals, a significant designation that is a result of the facility’s superior patient outcomes, quicker recovery times and shorter lengths of stay.
Holston Valley is one of just four Tennessee hospitals – and the only hospital east of Knoxville – to be recognized as a Top 100 heart hospital in the national 2007 Thomson 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success. The comprehensive study examined the performance of nearly 1,000 U.S. hospitals by analyzing their outcomes for eight measures related to congestive heart failure, heart attacks, coronary artery bypass grafts and percutaneous coronary interventions such as angioplasties.
The Top 100 hospitals are those facilities that not only produce the best clinical outcomes for cardiovascular care but also treat heart patients in less time and at a lower cost. Holston Valley was also recognized as a Top 100 heart hospital in 2005.
“There are many rankings available in the healthcare industry, some of which are marketing packages that may be purchased for a fee,” said Blaine Douglas, Holston Valley’s president. “However, this study of our nation’s heart hospitals is independent, and the hospitals that achieve this recognition listed don’t pay for the award or the rights to use it.
“The people of Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Southeast Kentucky can be assured there is one Top 100 heart hospital in our region, and that hospital is Holston Valley Medical Center.”
The Thomson study, in its ninth year, found that the 100 top hospitals have hospital stays that are 12 percent shorter, on average, than peer hospitals (5.14 days compared with 5.85 days) and costs that average 13 percent — or about $2,000 — less per case than peer hospitals.
The list of winning hospitals is published in the Nov. 19 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine. It can also be viewed online at http://www.100tophospitals.com.
If all cardiovascular hospitals achieved the same results as the 100 top hospitals, according to the study, more than 7,000 lives would be saved and nearly 750 medical complications would be avoided annually.
The study analyzed acute-care hospitals nationwide using detailed empirical performance data from publicly available 2005 and 2006 Medicare MedPAR data and 2006 Medicare cost reports.
Thomson Healthcare researchers scored hospitals in eight key performance areas: risk-adjusted medical mortality, risk-adjusted surgical mortality, risk-adjusted complications, core measures score, percentage of CABG patients with internal mammary artery use, procedure volume, severity-adjusted average length of stay and wage- and severity-adjusted average cost.
The Regional Heart Center at Holston Valley has long been a leader in cardiac services. The hospital was the site of the region’s first open-heart surgery in 1979, and Holston Valley has been nationally recognized for its exemplary door-to-balloon times for heart-attack patients.
Dr. Herb Ladley, a board-certified cardiologist and president of Cardiovascular Associates, said Holston Valley’s recognition as a Top 100 heart hospital is the result of cooperation and partnership between the region’s physicians and the hospital.
“Heart patients at Holston Valley are treated by cardiologists and cardiac surgeons who have achieved board-certification and sub-specialty certification in the many disciplines of cardiac medicine,” Dr. Ladley said. “Our physicians’ experience and training are unsurpassed in our region. In fact, accomplished doctors from across the country travel to our region to be trained by our physicians.
“I can think no greater comfort for our patients or for those who love them.”