HealthGrades Study Names Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Two years in a row

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


For more information, contact Elizabeth Duncan.

Distinction Places Hospital in Top 5% in Nation for Patient Outcomes

BOISE, ID. Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center announced today that HealthGrades, the nation's most trusted source of health care provider information, has named it a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence™ for the second consecutive year. This prestigious distinction once again places Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center among the Top 5% of hospitals nationwide for clinical performance.

The HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study, released today, objectively identifies those hospitals with the best overall clinical performance across all 26 medical diagnoses and procedures that the organization rates. These 263 top-performing hospitals represent only 5% of the nation’s hospitals and each is designated as a HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence™.

“We are exceptionally pleased to have been singled out for recognition two years in a row,” said Sally Jeffcoat, President and CEO. “We are so proud of the contributions of the physicians, nurses and staff throughout the Saint Alphonsus Health System. The HealthGrades information helps families in our communities make better choices when it comes to meeting their healthcare needs.”

“Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center can be proud of the contributions of its physicians, nurses and staff in achieving outstanding patient care,” said Kristin Reed, MPH, HealthGrades vice president of hospital ratings and author of the study. “The Boise community is fortunate to have access to some of the highest quality hospital care in the nation.”

Unlike other hospital quality studies, HealthGrades evaluates hospitals solely on clinical outcomes: risk-adjusted mortality and inhospital complications. HealthGrades’ analysis is based on approximately 40 million Medicare discharges for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. Using these top-performing hospitals as a benchmark in this year’s HealthGrades study, HealthGrades quantifies the impact of differences in hospital quality in terms of lives lost and unexpected complications.

The HealthGrades study found that:

• Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence (Top 5% in the nation) such as Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center outperform all other hospitals across all of the 17 mortality cohorts and six of nine complication cohorts studied from 2008 through 2010.

• Specifically, Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence had a 30.07% lower risk-adjusted mortality rate and a 1.86% lower risk-adjusted inhospital complication rate among Medicare beneficiaries compared to all other hospitals.

• In fact, if all hospitals performed at the level of Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence, 165,704 Medicare lives could potentially have been saved and 6,800 Medicare inhospital complications could potentially have been avoided.

About Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center


Saint Alphonsus is a 387-licensed bed regional medical center serving people throughout the Northwest. As a not-for-profit medical center, Saint Alphonsus reinvests profits back into the community and works to improve the health and well-being of those we serve by emphasizing care that is patient-centered, innovative and community based. Saint Alphonsus focuses on providing services in a spiritual, healing environment, and is renowned for its state-of-the-art digital environment and pioneering technologies; award-winning clinical services; and the region’s only Level II Trauma Center. Saint Alphonsus is part of Saint Alphonsus Health System, a four-hospital, 714-bed integrated healthcare system serving the full range of the health and wellness needs of the people in southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada. Saint Alphonsus Health System is a member of Trinity Health. For information about Saint Alphonsus visit www.saintalphonsus.org.

HealthGrades Hospital Quality Distinctions


As part of this study, HealthGrades evaluates each of the nation’s 5,000 nonfederal hospitals in 26 procedures and diagnoses, allowing individuals to compare their local hospitals online at www.healthgrades.com. HealthGrades hospital quality distinctions are independently created; no hospital can opt-in or opt-out of being evaluated, and no hospital pays to be evaluated. Mortality and complication rates are risk adjusted, which takes into account differing levels of severity of patient illness at different hospitals and allows for hospitals to be compared equally.

About HealthGrades


HealthGrades is the leading independent health care ratings organization, providing quality ratings, profiles and cost information on the nation's hospitals, physicians, and nursing homes. Millions of patients and many of the nation’s largest employers, health plans and hospitals rely on HealthGrades’ quality ratings, advisory services and decision-support resources. The HealthGrades Network of Web sites, including HealthGrades.com and WrongDiagnosis.com, is a top-ten health property according to comScore and is the Internet's leading destination for patients choosing providers. More information on how HealthGrades guides Americans to their best health can be found at www.healthgrades.com.

About Saint Alphonsus Health System


Saint Alphonsus Health System is a four-hospital, 714-bed regional, faith-based Catholic ministry with over 4,300 Associates and 950 medical staff. Serving the people of southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada, Saint Alphonsus Health System is comprised of Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Boise, Idaho; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Nampa, ID; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Ontario, OR; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Baker City, OR; Saint Alphonsus Medical Group, with more than 275 primary care and specialty care providers at 35 clinic locations. As a not-for-profit health system, Saint Alphonsus Health System reinvests profits back into the community and works to improve the health and well-being of those we serve by emphasizing care that is patient-centered, innovative and community-based. Saint Alphonsus Health System is a member of Trinity Health, Novi, Michigan. To find out more go to: www.saintalphonsushealthsystem.org