A study recently issued by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, finds that Missouri Baptist Medical Center is among the top five percent in the nation, and the leading hospital in Missouri, for cardiac care. Nearly 5,000 non-federal hospitals across the country were included in the study, which examined patient mortality rates and complication rates from government data for 2006, 2007 and 2008.
As a result of these study findings, Missouri Baptist Medical Center received recognition in these categories:
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.
Each year at Missouri Baptist, more than 5,000 cardiac procedures and more than 700 open heart surgeries are performed, more than any other St. Louis County hospital.
State-of-the-Art Equipment:
Missouri Baptist Medical Center invested more than $17 million in technology and construction over a span of three years to enhance its Heart Center. See below:
2009 - Expanded Cath Labs:
Missouri Baptist opened two new cardiac catheterization labs. The first opened in October 2008 as an interventional cardiac cath lab that specializes in angioplasty and other life-saving interventional procedures to unblock coronary arteries. The second opened in January 2009 as an outpatient cardiac cath lab dedicated to diagnostic catheterizations. The two labs are 100 feet from each other, and connected to the hospital’s cardiac surgery suite. The labs were designed to ensure that patients could easily and quickly be moved from the diagnostic lab to the inpatient lab or the cardiac operating room, where increased levels of care could be provided should the patient require angioplasty, a stent or emergency surgery to open a coronary blockage.
2008 – Added Stereotaxis Magnetic Guidance:
Missouri Baptist invested $3.1 million in a second-generation Stereotaxis system to treat atrial fibrillation and other electrophysiology conditions. With a magnetic-guided catheter versus the traditional pushing and pulling of the catheter, the system provides less danger of perforating blood vessels and heart tissue.
2007 – Opened Dedicated Cardiovascular Surgery Floor:
In its new East Pavilion, Missouri Baptist opened a Cardiovascular Surgery floor, dedicated to patients recovering from heart surgery.
About 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.