Memorial, Penrose receive high marks
Like straight-A students skipping home with their report cards, Colorado Springs' two hospital systems were eager to brag Tuesday about their top grades in a national analysis.
Both hospitals earned high marks in the "Eleventh Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study." For the second year in a row, Memorial Health System ranked No. 1 statewide for cardiac surgery. And Penrose-St. Francis Health Services topped the state's list for overall critical care and gastrointestinal medical treatment - at least the second accolade this year from HealthGrades.
In March, Penrose was the only Colorado hospital named by HealthGrades as one of America's 50 best hospitals for 2008.
Altogether, Colorado hospitals ranked No. 5 nationally when it came to the highest percentage of best-performing hospitals for treatment of strokes and showing improvement in cardiac surgery.
Each year HealthGrades, a Golden-based independent ratings company, analyzes millions of Medicare hospital records for the nation's 5,000 nonfederal hospitals in the largest annual study of its kind. The company looks at mortality and complication rates for dozens of conditions.
The HealthGrades information is free to the public as a sort of Consumer Reports for health care. The company's annual report also bestows excellence awards and five-star ratings that reveal aspects of their performance compared with the rest of the state and country.
Unlike Consumer Reports, however, there's a commercial aspect to HealthGrade reports: Hospitals pay HealthGradesfor the rights to publicize their rankings in advertising materials and news releases, and Memorial and Penrose wasted no time exercising those rights Tuesday; each came out with press releases touting their results.
Memorial's chief executive officer Dr. Larry McEvoy said in his system's press release: "Our mission is to provide the highest quality health care. Awards, such as this one from HealthGrades, demonstrate that commitment to excellence and it reflects the dedication and commitment of our team of physicians, physician assistants, nurses, technicians and other professionals in our Heart and Vascular Center."
And fromPenrose-St. Francis President and CEO Phil Shaw: "We're very excited to once again be recognized for providing superior healthcare to the Pikes Peak Region. It's a direct reflection of our top-notch physicians, associates and volunteers who are infused with vision and dedicated to clinical excellence each and every day."
Memorial also said in its news release that its patient care places it in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationally. Penrose ranked in the top 10 percent in its evaluated categories, it reported.
HealthGrades does not release the fees it charges hospitals for the right to promote the rankings, said Scott Shapiro, the company's vice president of corporate communications and marketing. About 400 of the 5,000 hospitals reviewed pay to use the information, he has said.
Shapiro also said hospitals use his company's information for more than just marketing.
The company provides in-depth analyses that hospitals use to make changes in patient care.
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Contact the writer: 636-0198 or brian.newsome@gazette.com
