For Immediate Release: Oct. 24, 2012

Northampton, MA – Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s orthopedic program today was ranked among the top 10 percent in the nation for joint replacement by Healthgrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make an informed decision about a physician or hospital. The findings are part of American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation, which evaluates the performance of approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide across nearly 30 of the most common conditions and procedures. Healthgrades bases its objective measures solely on clinical performance.

Earlier this year, Cooley Dickinson was also recognized by HealthGrades for being in the top 5 percent in the nation for patient safety.  Cooley is the only hospital in the Springfield region to have achieved the patient safety award for 4 consecutive years.

Healthgrades also released today new research conducted by Harris Interactive that underscores the importance of educating consumers on clinical outcomes. According to the research, 88% of adults agree they have the necessary information to make an informed decision about either a physician or hospital. But most Americans are not aware that there is data available on the chance of dying at a hospital (55%) or complication rates (58%).
                              
Cooley Dickinson Hospital was also recognized for the following clinical achievements:

Orthopedic
• Recipient of the HealthGrades Joint Replacement Excellence Award™ in 2013
• Ranked Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Joint Replacement in 2013
• Ranked Among the Top 10 in MA for Joint Replacement for 3 Years in a Row (2011-2013) (Ranked 4 in 2013)
• Five-Star Recipient for Joint Replacement for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013)
• Five-Star Recipient for Total Knee Replacement for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013)
• Five-Star Recipient for Total Hip Replacement for 3 Years in a Row (2011-2013)

Appendectomy
• Five-Star Recipient for Appendectomy for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013)

“It is because our doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, and staff take the steps necessary to ensure that our patients receive safe, high-quality care that Cooley Dickinson achieves ratings like these,” said Craig Melin, president and CEO. “This award is validation from an independent authority that our staff is continuously focused on improving quality of care.

“Ultimately, our patients benefit most from our safety efforts, because they are less likely to experience complications or worse at Cooley Dickinson,” he added.

A wide variation in quality exists among American hospitals, according to the Healthgrades report. Patients were 61 percent less likely to experience a major in-hospital complication when being treated at a hospital receiving 5 stars when compared with hospitals receiving 1 star across a range of common procedures, such as total knee replacement, gall bladder and spine surgeries.

Melin explained that Cooley Dickinson Hospital achieves high-quality care in part through, for example, aggressive initiatives to prevent patients from getting infections in the hospital. It was the first hospital in the Northeast and one of the first in the country to start using Xenex ultraviolet light disinfection technology following traditional cleaning of patient rooms. Use of the robot technology dramatically decreased incidence of three of the most tenacious infections found in hospitals.

For its 2013 hospital quality outcomes analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 40 million Medicare hospitalization records for services performed from 2009 through 2011 at approximately 4,500 short-term, acute care hospitals nationwide.

Healthgrades independently measures hospitals based on data that hospitals submit to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of the analysis, and no hospital pays to be measured. Mortality and complication rates are risk adjusted, which takes into each hospital’s unique population.

The American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.

About Cooley Dickinson
Cooley Dickinson, a full-service community hospital, is ranked in the top 5 percent of all U.S. hospitals in patient safety by HealthGrades®, the country's leading independent health care ratings organization. It is the only hospital in the Springfield area to achieve the HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award™ for four consecutive years. Cooley Dickinson’s staff of 1,650 professionals and more than 300 affiliated physicians comprise a network of emergency, surgical, clinical, rehabilitative, hospice and home care expertise that treats 40,000 emergency patients per year, delivers 800 babies, and collaborates with Massachusetts General Hospital to deliver comprehensive cancer care. Cooley Dickinson's vision is to make the Upper Pioneer Valley the nation’s model healthy community, able to provide local access to the most advanced clinical treatments in a caring and neighborly setting. Learn more at www.cooley-dickinson.org.

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