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Mills-Peninsula Rates in Top 10 Percent for Pulmonary, Gastrointestinal and General Surgery Care
Findings based on nationwide study by independent health care ratings organization
BURLINGAME, Calif. (October 13, 2009) – Mills-Peninsula Health Services ranks among the top 10 percent in the nation for pulmonary, gastrointestinal and general surgery care, according to a nationwide study issued today by HealthGrades, an independent health care ratings organization. The nation’s nearly 5,000 nonfederal hospitals were included in the sweeping study, which examined mortality rates and complication rates from government data from 2006, 2007 and 2008.
As a result of the findings, Mills-Peninsula received the 2010 HealthGrades Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™, HealthGrades Gastrointestinal Care Excellence Award™, HealthGrades Gastrointestinal Surgery Excellence Award™ and the HealthGrades General Surgery Excellence Award™.
Additional HealthGrades clinical achievements include:
“The findings from this study illustrate what our patients already know and expect: Mills-Peninsula is committed to providing top quality care,” said Bob Merwin, Mills-Peninsula CEO. “Thanks to our staff and physicians for the exceptional care they give every day.”
The HealthGrades twelfth annual Hospital Quality in America study, the largest annual report of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes from nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records.
Top-performing hospitals had dramatically lower mortality rates than other hospitals, according to the study. For the 17 procedures and diagnoses for which HealthGrades analyzed mortality rates, patients at top hospitals had a 72 percent lower chance of dying when compared with the lowest-performing hospitals, and a 52 percent lower chance of dying when compared to the U.S. national average.
HealthGrades Ratings
HealthGrades rates hospitals independently based on data that hospitals submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.
For 28 procedures and treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital’s mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for apples-to-apples comparisons.
More information on today’s HealthGrades study, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com.
About Mills-Peninsula Health Services
Mills-Peninsula has provided excellent quality medical care to the San Mateo County community for more than 100 years. In 2009, Mills-Peninsula received the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award,™ placing it among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation for overall clinical performance for two years in a row.
Mills-Peninsula also received the following HealthGrades awards: