Study finds patient outcomes among nation’s best for overall Maternity Services
Providence Memorial Hospital announced today that the nation’s leading independent healthcare ratings company recognized them among the top 10% of hospitals in the nation for Maternity Care with a five-star rating and the 2009/2010 Maternity Care Excellence Award™. The Sixth Annual HealthGrades Women’s Health in American Hospitals study found that best-performing hospitals had 52% fewer maternal complications among women who had vaginal births compared to poor-performing hospitals and 76% fewer complications among women who had C-sections. Patient-choice C-sections had the largest difference at 84% between best- and poor-performing hospitals.
“It’s an honor to be ranked among the top hospitals in the country for maternity care by an independent source such as HealthGrades,” said John Harris President of Sierra Providence Health Network. “The award represents the dedication of our staff and physicians to our patients.”
Study findings include the following:
- If all hospitals, among the 19 states studied, performed at the level of the best-performing hospitals from 2005 through 2007, 182,129 women may have avoided developing one or more in hospital major obstetrics complications.
- Best-performing hospitals had a 56% lower weight-stratified neonatal mortality compared to poor-performing hospitals.
- C-section rates average approximately 32% among the 19 states studied.
- Quality inconsistencies are seen when comparing states; those with the lowest complication rates have almost half the complications compared with states that had the highest complication rates.
“For many women, having a baby is their first experience with hospitalization, and as this study shows, it really matters which hospital is chosen.” said Dr. Rick May, a senior physician consultant with HealthGrades and a study co-author. “But now women have a way of identifying hospitals with outstanding track records in terms of the outcomes of other new mothers. That’s a powerful tool for all women as they plan for their birth.”
HealthGrades analyzed approximately 13 million hospital delivery and neonate records from 2005 through 2007 in more than 1,500 hospitals in 19 all-payer states for this study and identified 218 hospitals as being five-star rated in maternity care.