Two UMass Memorial Health Care Hospitals Rank in Top Five
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 21, 2011
Contact: Mary Lourdes Burke, Chief Communications Officer
Phone: 978-466-2214
Email:
mburke@healthalliance.com
October 21, 2011, Leominster, MA - HealthAlliance Hospital announced that it has ranked as the number four leading hospital in Massachusetts for treatment and survival of heart attack for the second year in a row, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Based on this health measures tool, patients presenting with a heart attack at HealthAlliance Hospital received treatment considered best practice nearly 100% of the time. HealthAlliance Hospital, which is a part of the UMass Memorial Health Care system, was recognized along with UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC), which ranked number one in Massachusetts for the fourth year in a row, by CMS for exceptional cardiology care. The data was released by CMS through the USA Today website.
A key component of this success is that HealthAlliance Hospital’s rapid response cardiac team, along with the regional emergency medical service providers, continues to excel at reducing the time between a patient’s arrival in the emergency department and transportation to UMass Memorial Medical Center, where a cardiac catheterization procedure is completed to restore blood flow to the heart. This period is called the door-to-balloon-time (DTB). The teams involved have achieved a DTB time that is in line with the national goals of 90 minutes.
"As a community hospital, I'm proud to be recognized as one of the best in the state for the care of acute heart attacks," stated Bonnie Ryan, MD, FACEP, chair of emergency medicine at HealthAlliance Hospital. "We have developed a well-coordinated team approach comprised of emergency nurses and physicians working hand-in-hand with our diagnostic imaging team, paramedics and UMMMC's cardiac cath lab in order to provide the best in care to patients with an acute heart attack."
Nationally, HealthAlliance Hospital ranks 59th of the 4,600 hospitals, including academic medical centers, for heart attack survival rates. In addition to 100% success rate in all measures of heart attack treatment, HealthAlliance Hospital also achieved a 100% success rate in measures to prevent of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
“We are honored to be recognized nationally and statewide, along with UMass Memorial Medical Center, for the treatment of heart attacks,” said Daniel O’Leary, MD, chief medical officer at HealthAlliance Hospital. “This recognition is the culmination of several years of applying a best practices approach to heart care and illustrates HealthAlliance Hospital’s ongoing commitment to delivering the highest quality of care for the patients in our community.”
CMS developed its health outcome measures tool to improve quality in all American hospitals. The organization estimated the 30-day risk-standardized mortality rates (RSMRs) for Medicare patients hospitalized with a principal discharge diagnosis of heart attack. CMS then estimated the RSMRs from heart attack for each hospital within 30 days of submission.
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About HealthAlliance Hospital
HealthAlliance Hospital is a not-for-profit, full service, acute care hospital that serves the communities of North Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. As a member of UMass Memorial Health Care, HealthAlliance Hospital offers direct access to the advanced medical technology and specialty services that are part of the region’s academic medical center. The HealthAlliance system includes a hospital with services on two campuses in Leominster and Fitchburg, a regional cancer center, complementary care center, outpatient physical therapy centers, a home health and hospice agency, and primary and specialty care physician practices. For more information about HealthAlliance, visit www.healthalliance.com.