Healthgrades awards STHS five stars for treatment in multiple areas for 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Oct. 22, 2020

COVINGTON – St. Tammany Health System has once more received top marks nationally in Healthgrades’ annual performance evaluations of nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide, earning five-star recognition for pacemaker procedures, as well as for treatment of respiratory failure, stroke, hip fractures and pneumonia.

The recognitions marks the sixth consecutive year STHS has earned five-star recognition for treatment of respiratory failure, the fifth consecutive year it has earned five stars for pacemaker procedures, the third consecutive year for stroke treatment and the second consecutive year for pneumonia treatment.

Earlier this year, Healthgrades recognized St. Tammany Health System as one of the top 5% of hospitals in the nation for both patient safety and patient experience for 2020. STHS also earned Healthgrades’ 2020 Patient Safety Excellence Award for the fourth consecutive year, as well as the 2020 Outstanding Patient Experience Award for the 12^th consecutive year.

“Hospital quality has never been more important, and consumers are becoming more aware of the importance of researching where they receive care before they visit a hospital for a specific procedure or condition,” said Brad Bowman MD, chief medical officer at Healthgrades, in announcing the awards. “Hospitals that receive a Healthgrades five-star rating demonstrate exceptional outcomes and their ability to provide quality care for patients.” 

Healthgrades’ annual Report to the Nation examines 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions using Medicare data to help patients find the highest quality, safest care nearest their home. A five-star rating indicates clinical outcomes at STHS are statistically significantly better than expected when treating the condition or performing the procedure being evaluated.

See below for a full listing of all of the Healthgrades awards earned by St. Tammany Health System so far in 2020-2021:

Cardiac:
Five stars for pacemaker procedures (2021)

Critical care:
Five stars for treatment of respiratory failure (2021)

Neurosciences:
Five stars for treatment of stroke (2021)

Orthopedics:
Five stars for hip fracture treatment (2021)

Pulmonary
Five stars for treatment of pneumonia (2021)

Patient safety:
Recipient of Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award for four consecutive years (2017-2020)

Named among top 5% in the nation for patient safety for 2020

Named among top 10% in nation for Outstanding Patient Experience for 12 consecutive years (2009-2020)

Patient experience:

Outstanding Patient Experience Award for 12 consecutive years (2009-2020)

Named among top 5% in nation for Outstanding Patient Experience for 2020

Named among the top 10% in nation for outstanding patient experience for four consecutive years (2017-2020)

Named among top 15% in the nation for Outstanding Patient Experience for 12 years in a row (2009-2020)

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St. Tammany Health System is the heartbeat of its community, caring for patients and families with excellence, compassion and teamwork; it will strengthen the health of its community with compassion, innovation and partnership and is recognized for quality, safety and the patient experience by CareChex, Leapfrog, Healthgrades, Hospital Compare, Women’s Choice and US News & World Report. St. Tammany Parish Hospital Service District No. 1 is an independent service district in a clinically integrated partnership with Ochsner Health. Together, the two organizations focus on aligning their healthcare offerings to best serve patients and families in west St. Tammany and surrounding areas. Under their agreement, each retains its autonomy; neither manages nor owns the other. Self-supporting, not-for-profit STHS receives no tax funding. More at stph.org.

Methodology: For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures, and evaluated outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states. Healthgrades recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-star (statistically significantly better than expected), 3-star (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected).