News

Recognized for superior patient outcomes for the sixth consecutive year

Gundersen Lutheran’s commitment to providing people in the Tri-state Region with high-quality hospital care was recently recognized by Healthgrades, an independent healthcare ratings organization. Healthgrades announced today that Gundersen Lutheran is the recipient of the 2013 Healthgrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ based on clinical quality performance. The ranking places Gundersen Lutheran among the nation’s top five percent of hospitals for the sixth consecutive year. This year, only 262 of the nation’s more than 4,500 non-federal hospitals received the award putting Gundersen Lutheran in elite company.

“Our patients receive this high-quality care because of the hard work and commitment of our clinicians, staff and leadership. The fact that Gundersen Lutheran remains in this elite company year-after-year speaks to our continuing efforts in delivering the very best healthcare to our patients. We are proud Gundersen Lutheran is leading the way in making our community one of the best in the nation for hospital care,” says Jan DeHaan, vice president of Operating Team 2 and Hospital Administrator.

Many hospitals have specific areas of expertise and high-quality outcomes in certain areas. What makes hospitals like Gundersen Lutheran who receive the Distinguished Hospital award different is that they exhibit comprehensive high-quality care across multiple clinical specialties. According to the Healthgrades, from 2009 through 2011, Healthgrades Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence as a group has an overall 30.9 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate as compared to hospitals that did not receive the award.

Gundersen Lutheran has also received multiple Healthgrades 2013 Excellence Awards™ including those for Cardiac Care, Coronary Intervention, Orthopaedic Surgery, Joint Replacement, Pulmonary Care, General Surgery, Gastrointestinal (GI) Care and Critical Care. Of those, Healthgrades designated Gundersen Lutheran America’s 100 Best for Specialty Care 2013 in Cardiac Care, Coronary Intervention, Critical Care, Gastrointestinal Care, General Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery. In addition, the health system received 5-star ratings, Healthgrades’ highest rating, in more than two dozen categories. Gundersen Lutheran was rated number one is Wisconsin for Overall Cardiac Services, Cardiology Services, Coronary Interventional Procedures, General Surgery, Bariatric Surgery and Gynecologic Surgery.

For a complete listing of Gundersen Lutheran’s Healthgrades accomplishments, go to gundluth.org/Healthgrades. A full copy of the study is available at www.healthgrades.com.

Healthgrades Hospital Quality Distinctions
Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance for more than 4,500 hospitals across the nation in 28 procedures and conditions annually. Healthgrades.com provides information on objective measures of hospital performance, which allows consumers to compare their local hospitals online at www.healthgrades.com/find-a-hospital . Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance for nearly every hospital in the nation; no hospital can opt-in or opt-out of being evaluated, and no hospital pays to be evaluated. Mortality and complication rates are risk adjusted, which takes into account differing levels of severity of patient illness at different hospitals and allows for hospitals to be compared equally.

About Healthgrades
Healthgrades, headquartered in Denver, Colo., is a leading provider of comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. More than 200 million consumers use the Healthgrades websites to select and communicate with physicians and hospitals that best meet their treatment needs. Consumers are empowered through use of the Healthgrades proprietary information about clinical outcomes, satisfaction, safety, and health conditions to make more informed healthcare decisions and take action. For more information please visit www.healthgrades.com  and www.bettermedicine.com.