The University of Virginia Medical Center has been recognized as one of the nation’s 50 best-providers of cardiovascular inpatient care by Thomson Reuters, a leading market information and benchmarking company.
This marks the seventh time that the UVA Medical Center has been named as a top cardiovascular hospital by Thomson Reuters, which this week released the 2011 edition of its Top Cardiovascular Hospitals benchmarking study. Until this year the annual report recognized 100 U.S. hospitals, but this year to highlight these true industry leaders only 50 were recognized.
“We are honored by this designation and proud of our Heart Center’s commitment to quality service and role in helping to set national standards,” said R. Edward Howell, Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the UVA Medical Center. “Being in the Top 50 in the nation recognizes UVA’s leadership position in bringing the best cardiovascular care to our region.”
The UVA Heart Center serves more than 5,000 in-patients each year and its team-based approach brings together specialists from cardiology, pediatric cardiology, thoracic and vascular surgery and interventional radiology.
“We are very proud of this accomplishment,” says Brian H. Annex, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiology. “It is a result of the hard work and dedication of our physicians and staff, who strive every day to provide the best possible care for our patients.”
According to Irving L. Kron, MD, Chair of the Department of Surgery, “This recognition signifies what can be achieved when we focus on teamwork and offer patient-centered care.”
The study collected data from 1,022 hospitals and identified those that provide superior care for a broad spectrum of cardiology patients including those being treated for heart attack and heart failure and those undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary bypass graft surgery. The findings are then used to establish national standards of care.
The study found that if all cardiovascular providers performed at the level of this year’s winners, more than 7,500 additional lives could be saved and nearly 12,000 additional patients could be complication-free.
Other significant findings include that the Top 50 cardiovascular hospitals also:
Spend an average $1,300 less per case Have significantly better 30-day survival rates Maintain lower 30-day readmission rates for heart attack and heart patients
