Posted Date: 10/26/2011

For some of the best care in the country, area residents need look no further than down the street, according to the nation’s leading independent source of physician information and hospital quality ratings.

HealthGrades this week published its 2011 “Healthcare Consumerism and Hospital Quality in America” report, evaluating patient outcomes at nearly 5,000 hospitals nationwide. Outcomes were measured based on mortality or in-hospital complications.

For the third year in a row, Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton was ranked No. 1 in Georgia and in the top 5 percent in the country for overall orthopedic services, earning five-star ratings for joint replacement, spine surgery, total knee replacement, total hip replacement, hip fracture treatment and back and neck surgery. The quality of Tanner’s orthopedic program earned it HealthGrades’ Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award for the fifth straight year.

The hospital earned the distinction as being among “America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery” for 2012.

“This is a testament to the hard work that has been done by our staff at all levels of our organization at Tanner, 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.”

Earlier this year, the both Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton and Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica were honored with HealthGrades’ 2011 Outstanding Patient Experience Award, ranking among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for outstanding patient experience based on 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.

Among the key findings in HealthGrades’ annual “Healthcare Consumerism and Hospital Quality in America” report:

• Patients had, on average a 73 percent lower risk of dying in a five-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital, and a 54 percent lower risk of dying in a five-star rated hospital compared to the national average.
• Patients, on average, were 63 percent less likely to experience in-hospital complications than patients at one-star programs, and had a 43 percent lower chance of developing an in-hospital complication than the national average.
• If all Medicare patients from 2008 through 2010 had been treated at five-star hospitals, 240,040 lives could have potentially been saved.
• If all Medicare patients from 2008 through 2010 had gone to five-star hospitals for their procedure, 164,472 in-hospital complications could have potentially been avoided.

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.tanner.org can review a number of charts and facts about key quality care indicators at Tanner by clicking the “Quality & Safety” button on the main page.

“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 respect and compassion, and you’re going to experience fewer complications and fewer risks than you would at one-star facilities.”

Tanner has also begun to cultivate 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.

“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 is America's most trusted, independent source of physician information and hospital quality outcomes. HealthGrades’ online properties are the nation's leading destination for physician search and empower more than 170 million consumers annually to make informed healthcare decisions. More information on HealthGrades is available online at www.healthgrades.com.

For more information on Tanner or to find a physician on Tanner’s medical staff, call 770.214.CARE or visit www.tanner.org.

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