US News Names UVM Medical Center Among Nation’s High Performing Hospitals in Heart Failure Care

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U.S. News & World Report Names The University of Vermont Medical Center Among Nation’s High Performing Hospitals in Heart Failure Care

Highlights:

  • Only 10% of 4,500 U.S. hospitals earn this rating
  • Low complication rates highlighted

The University of Vermont Medical Center has been rated as “high performing” in heart failure care in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals for Common Care” ratings. More than 4,500 hospitals nationwide are evaluated in the study with only 10 percent achieving the “high performing” rating. Low rates of readmissions and infections were cited as strengths in the Medical Center’s performance.

“We’re very pleased this national study is recognizing the excellence of our cardiology program,” said Eileen Whalen, RN, MHA, president, chief operating officer and acting chief nursing officer for The University of Vermont Medical Center. “This is one of many quality rankings that should give patients in our region confidence that they can get the highest level of safe patient care close to home.”

“Frankly, I am not surprised to learn that our heart failure care is ranked at the highest levels nationally,” said Claude Deschamps, MD, president and CEO of The University of Vermont Medical Group. “Our cardiology team is extremely talented and they have a relentless focus on getting it right every single time with every patient.”

“This recognition reflects our commitment to improve patient care from every angle, including bringing the findings from our many bench and clinical research projects to the bedside, and taking a multi-disciplinary approach to helping patients recover effectively at home,” said David Schneider, MD, director of  Cardiovascular Services for The University of Vermont Health Network and professor at the UVM College of Medicine.

The University of Vermont Medical Center has been designated by the National Institutes of Health as a Regional Clinical Center focused on heart failure care and research.

“We evaluated the treatment of more than 3.6 million patients and identified a small percentage of hospitals that have superior outcomes compared with their peer institutions,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis for U.S. News. “Whenever possible, patients, in consultation with their doctors, should seek out high performing hospitals that excel in treating their specific condition.”

U.S. News created” Best Hospitals for Common Care” to help patients find better care for the kinds of common procedures and medical conditions that account for millions of hospitalizations each year. Objective outcome measures such as deaths, infections, readmissions, and operations that need to be repeated, as well as patient satisfaction data largely determined the ratings. The “Best Hospitals for Common Care” ratings rely on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data for patients 65 and older, as well as survey data from the American Hospital Association and clinical registry data from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Dr. Foster, an international health care analytics company with expertise on claims-based risk adjustment collaborated with U.S. News on the ratings methodology.

From the University of Vermont Medical Center News Page.