Prairie Heart Again Rated in Top 5% Nationally by Healthgrades

SPRINGFIELD - The Prairie Heart Institute (PHI) at St. John's Hospital has once again been recognized as a national leader in heart care. PHI received five-star ratings from HealthGrades for cardiac services, coronary bypass surgery, cardiac interventions and the treatment of heart attacks. For the fourth consecutive year, the ratings place PHI in the top five percent nationally for overall cardiac services.

Our focus has always been to provide the residents of south-central Illinois with the very best healthcare possible, said Richard Carlson, executive vice president, St. John's Hospital. Having a company that specializes in analyzing the quality of healthcare validate our efforts is a powerful testament to the dedication of our physicians, nurses and staff.

Our patients increasingly recognize the need to be fully informed about their treatment options before undergoing a major procedure. HealthGrades helps patients sort through healthcare data and make knowledgeable decisions about which hospital is best for them, added Dr. Frank Mikell, M.D., Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants Ltd.

The sixth annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study analyzes and rates procedures and diagnoses in the nation's 5,000 hospitals. Fewer than 15 percent of hospitals merit a five-star rating in a given category. HealthGrades developed the study and ratings information to help consumers understand the differences in care from hospital to hospital. The ratings are available free to consumers at www.healthgrades.com.

Consumers continue to ask for more and better information to help them in their healthcare decision making, said Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades' vice president of medical affairs. Our analysis provides an apples-to-apples comparison of hospital performance by procedure, and it is evident that there is a significant variance between individual hospitals. For the Prairie Heart Institute at St. John's Hospital to score as well as it did reflects the efforts of everybody in the organization and should be very comforting to area residents.

Among the key findings of the study for PHI:

- Best rated (#1) in Illinois for cardiac interventions - three years in a row
- Best rated (#1) in Illinois for cardiology
- Best rated in the region* for overall cardiac services
- Best rated in the region* for cardiology
- Best rated in the region* for cardiac interventions
- Best rated in Springfield for cardiac services - four years in a row
- Ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation for overall cardiac services
- Ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation for cardiology
- Ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation for cardiac interventions

The hospital quality ratings are compiled annually using three years of the most currently available Medicare patient data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). To create its ratings system, HealthGrades compares the actual and predicted mortality or complication rates for specific procedures and diagnoses. HealthGrades then assigns a one-, three- or five-star rating for performance level. The data is risk-adjusted to ensure that hospitals are compared equitably, regardless of the severity of their patient populations. A five-star rating indicates performance better than expected and among the best in the nation. The study's methodology is available at www.healthgrades.com.