Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 29, 2009 – For the second consecutive year, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis has earned the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award™, putting it among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for overall quality.

The distinction is based on an independent study of the nation’s nearly 5,000 nonfederal hospitals released today by HealthGrades, a national health care ratings company.

According to the HealthGrades study, Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence had mortality rates that were, on average, 27 percent lower than other hospitals, and major complication rates that were 8 percent lower.

“This honor means so much to us because it shows we are carrying out our mission to heal those who rely on us for care,” said Jason Little, administrator and CEO of Baptist Memphis. “This achievement wouldn’t be possible without our employees and physicians, who work so hard to give our patients high-quality care.”

For seven years, HealthGrades has conducted comprehensive studies of hospital quality in America, producing ratings for every nonfederal hospital. Hospitals that receive the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence excel across the 26 procedures and diagnoses rated.

The study also shows that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence are improving at a greater rate in more procedures and diagnoses than all other hospitals, lowering risk-adjusted mortality rates in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by an average of 18 percent.

“Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence comprise an unparalleled group of hospitals that excel across the board, not just in one or two specialties, and they should be commended for their relentless commitment to exceptional patient care. Patients should expect and demand the same level of care at all hospitals,” said Rick May, M.D., HealthGrades senior physician consultant and an author of the study.

For its study, HealthGrades analyzed almost 41 million Medicare hospitalization records that cover the latest three-year period, from 2005 to 2007. Because the records come from the federal government, no hospital can opt in or out of HealthGrades' rating process. The analysis is risk-adjusted to account for differences in patient populations between hospitals.

HealthGrades found that Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence outperformed all other hospitals across the procedures and diagnoses studied. HealthGrades estimates that 152,666 lives could have been saved and 11,772 complications could have been avoided during the three years studied if all Medicare patients were treated at Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence.

The Baptist Memphis campus includes the 706-bed hospital that is the flagship of the Baptist Memorial Health Care system. It serves as a major referral center for patients from across the Mid-South and offers many diagnostic, surgical and rehabilitation services. The hospital has added hundreds of beds in the past few years, with the opening of a new patient tower and the Baptist Heart Institute. Consumers have rated Baptist Memphis their most preferred hospital for overall health care services in an independent National Research Corp. poll for the past 13 years in a row, and according to HealthGrades®, Baptist Memphis’ cardiac surgery, stroke care and gastrointestinal surgery programs were among the top 5 percent in the nation in 2008.

For more information, please call 901-226-5000 or visit memphis.baptistonline.org.

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