WHAT´S NEW
Holy Cross Hospital Five-Star Rated for Bariatric Surgery by HealthGrades
Patients Have 67 Percent Lower Chance of Complications for Bariatric Surgery at Top-Performing Hospitals
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (July 28, 2009) - ; Holy Cross Hospital today announced that it is the only hospital in Broward County to be ranked among the top 5% in the nation for Bariatric Surgery and has received the 2009/2010 Bariatric Surgery Excellence Award(tm) from HealthGrades, the nation's leading independent healthcare ratings organization.According to the study released today, the HealthGrades Fourth Annual Bariatric Surgery Trends in American Hospitals Study, wide gaps in mortality rates, complication rates and lengths of stay for bariatric surgery exist among the nation's hospitals. The study analyzes patient outcomes for the most common weight loss procedures including gastric bypass, less invasive laparoscopic procedures including gastric banding, malabsorbtive procedures and combined malabsorbtive/restrictive procedures.
According to the study, Holy Cross Hospital is one of 88 hospitals identified as a "top" performer (five-star rated), with mortality rates, complication rates and patient lengths of stay that are dramatically lower than poorly rated hospitals.
Other findings identified in the study include:
* Bariatric surgery patients treated at five-star rated hospitals have, on average, a 67 percent lower chance of experiencing serious complications compared to patients who receive treatment at one-star rated hospitals.
* Patients had a three times higher risk of dying with a bariatric surgery if they had it performed at a one-star hospital versus a five-star hospital.
* Patients having surgery at five-star rated hospitals spent, on average, more than half a day less in the hospital (2.15 days) compared to patients having surgery in one-star hospitals (2.72 days).
* The number of inpatient procedures during the study years 2005 through 2007 showed no increase, but an increasing percentage of surgeries are being performed outpatient.
* Laparospcopic bariatric surgery procedures account for 79% of all procedures, up from 54% in last year's study.
* Of the 19 states studies, over 61% of all procedures were performed in five states: New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, California and Florida.
* California was, on average, the most expensive state for bariatric surgery (average charge per procedure=$52,224) while Maryland was the least expensive (average charge per procedure=$14,577).
* Patients in Vermont, on average, spent the most time in the hospital (3.26 days), while patients in Nevada, on average, spent the least amount of time in the hospital (1.56 days).
"Competition among bariatric surgery programs grows stiffer every year as more programs open. It is critical for patients to carefully evaluate the quality of the hospital where they will have their surgery," said Rick May, MD, a senior physician consultant with HealthGrades and a co-author of the study. "Hospitals designated as five-star for bariatric surgery are obviously doing things differently to obtain the high quality patient outcomes they are getting."
For this study, HealthGrades analyzed 153,355 bariatric procedures performed in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007. The states included in the study are: Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The full study and individual hospital ratings for bariatric surgery and other procedures can be found at www.healthgrades.com.
