Did you know that Wellmont Health System has the top heart hospital in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virigina? Solucient, a nationally recognized healthcare information company, named Holston Valley Medical Center one of the nation’s Top 100 Hospitals for heart care in 2007, a significant designation that recognizes the facility’s superior patient outcomes and faster recovery times. Read the press release to learn more about Solucient’s award criteria.
Top 100 Heart Hospitals Press Release
“There are more than 5,700 hospitals in the United States, and just 100 of them have been honored as premier cardiac centers,” said Bert Whitaker, Holston Valley Medical Center’s president. “When the people of our region choose Holston Valley for their heart care, they’re placing their trust in one of the very best heart hospitals in the world.
“I commend our outstanding physicians and expert clinical staff for their unsurpassed levels of excellence and professionalism, which are the foundation for this award.”
Findings from Solucient ’s 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success study was published in the Oct. 31 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine. The 100 hospitals selected for the honor reported lower mortality and complication rates, shorter hospital stays and lower costs than peer hospitals. In addition, patients at winning hospitals were 23 percent less likely than those at non-winning facilities to acquire post-operative infections.
Using publicly available Medicare data, the Solucient study scored hospitals in seven key performance areas: risk-adjusted medical mortality; risk-adjusted surgical mortality; complications; percentage of bypass patients with internal mammary artery use; procedure volume; severity-adjusted average length of stay; and wage and severity-adjusted average cost.
Holston Valley outperformed peer hospitals in numerous categories, including the following:
- The median patient-mortality index for cardiac bypass patients at peer-group hospitals was 1.09. By comparison, Holston Valley’s median index was nearly 75 percent lower, at just 0.29.
- The median patient-mortality index for heart-attack patients at peer-group hospitals was 1.03. At Holston Valley, the median index was 0.78.
- Peer-group hospitals reported a median post-operative infection index of 0.78. Holston Valley’s median index was nearly 75 percent lower, at 0.20.
- Whereas peer-group hospitals reported an average length of stay of 5.10 days, Holston Valley’s average length of stay was 4.51.
“The numbers tell the story,” said Dr. Richard Salluzzo, president and chief executive officer of Wellmont Health System. “Patients who choose Holston Valley for their heart care have better outcomes with fewer complications, and they return to their optimal level of health more quickly.
“It’s a difficult thing when your doctor says there’s something wrong with your heart. Now, patients facing a cardiac procedure or surgery can take comfort in knowing their heart is in the hands of our region’s heart-care experts.”
The Regional Heart Center at Holston Valley Medical Center 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 surgeons have performed more cardiac surgeries than any hospital in the region.
Dr. Herb Ladley, a cardiologist with 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.
“This is a testimony to the focused potential of a physician group and hospital system working together for common goals with incentives aligned,” Dr. Ladley said. “We have many more important things we can accomplish together. Certainly, this should and will be a critical springboard for all of them.”
Holston Valley Medical Center’s selection as a Top 100 heart hospital marks the second time the Kingsport hospital has been recognized by Solucient , and the fourth such recognition for Wellmont hospitals. In 1999, Holston Valley Medical Center was named one of the nation’s 100 top hospitals, and Lonesome Pine Hospital was honored as one of the 100 top hospitals for performance improvement earlier this year. Bristol Regional Medical Center was recognized for having one of the nation’s 100 top intensive care units in 2001.