HealthGrades: Tanner No. 1 in Georgia for Overall Orthopedic Services

Posted Date: 10/25/2012

For the fourth consecutive year, Tanner Ortho and Spine Center at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton is ranked No. 1 in Georgia for overall orthopedic services by HealthGrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make an informed decision about a physician or hospital.

The recognition is part of new findings released today in American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation, which evaluates the performance of approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide across nearly 30 procedures and conditions. A five-star quality measurement indicates that Tanner Health Carrollton’s clinical performance is better than expected.

Tanner Ortho and Spine Center has earned five-star ratings for:

  • Overall orthopedic services for six years in a row (2008-2013)
  • Joint replacement for five years in a row (2009-2013)
  • Spine surgery for six years in a row (2008-2013)
  • Total knee replacement for five years in a row (2009-2013)
  • Total hip replacement for two years in a row (2012-2013)
  • Hip fracture treatment for nine years in a row (2005-2013)
  • Back and neck surgery (spinal fusion) for six years in a row (2008-2013)

Tanner also has earned HealthGrades’ Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award for the sixth consecutive year.

Gregory Slappey, MD, and Anthony Colpini, MD

Gregory Slappey, MD, and Anthony Colpini, MD, board-certified orthopedic surgeons with Carrollton Orthopaedic Clinic and on the medical staff at Tanner Ortho and Spine Center. Tanner Ortho and Spine Center has been named No. 1 in Georgia for overall orthopedics for the fourth consecutive year by hospital research firm HealthGrades.

HealthGrades bases its objective hospital quality measures solely on clinical performance and updates them annually, free to the public. The 2013 performance outcomes are now available at www.healthgrades.com.

“This is the product of the hard work that has been done by our staff at all levels of our organization, as well as the skill and diligence of our medical staff,” said Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner Health System. “Ensuring successful outcomes is how we earn the trust of our patients. This gives our patients the assurance that, at Tanner, they’re going to get the best possible care.”

For its 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 found that patients treated in hospitals receiving five stars had, on average, 75 percent lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals receiving one star.

In this year’s report, HealthGrades also analyzed findings over its last five study periods (2005-2011) to provide an overview of trends in hospital quality over a longer period. Among its key findings, HealthGrades found that the nation’s average in-hospital risk adjusted mortality rate improved 22 percent for procedures and conditions studied by HealthGrades during the last seven years.

Tanner has been no stranger to accolades from HealthGrades. Both Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton and Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica were honored with HealthGrades’ Outstanding Patient Experience Award for 2011 and 2012. HealthGrades used data from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAPS)—the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients' perspectives of hospital care.

In addition, Tanner Health System has been named one of the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation for 2012 by research firm Thomson Reuters. Recently, Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica and Higgins General Hospital in Bremen also were distinguished as Top Performers on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission and were included in the highest category of the Georgia Hospital Association’s quality honor roll.

Tanner has worked to lead the way in making information on quality measures like those monitored by HealthGrades more accessible to patients. Visitors to www.TannerQuality.org can review a number of charts and facts about key quality care indicators at Tanner.

“When people are researching hospitals and making educated decisions regarding their care, they’re going to find that Tanner compares exceptionally well with some of the top hospitals in the nation,” said Howard. “Our medical staff is first-rate, our facilities are great, our staff is going to treat you with compassion and respect, and you’re going to experience fewer complications and fewer risks than you would at one-star facilities.”

Tanner also has cultivated deeper relationships with its medical staff to continue its focus on quality, including with Carrollton Orthopaedic Clinic, which deserves much of the credit for Tanner’s outstanding orthopedic scores, according to Howard.

“We are fortunate to have a practice like Carrollton Orthopaedic Clinic in our area that can attract and retain such skilled specialists,” said Howard. “They have long done an outstanding job of helping us move forward with our orthopedic services, not just at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, but at Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica and Higgins General Hospital as well.”

HealthGrades independently measures hospitals based on data that hospitals submit to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of being measured, and no hospital pays to be measured. HealthGrades risk adjusts for patient demographic characteristics and clinical risk factors, thereby taking into account how sick patients are upon hospital admission.

To learn more about Tanner Ortho and Spine Center, visit www.TannerOrtho.org.

Search Again