Healthgrades names top hospitals for clinical excellence; See who made the list

Healthgrades has announced 258 recipients of the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. According to the Healthgrades evaluation, these hospitals are among the top 5 percent in the nation that deliver high quality care in at least 21 of 32 common inpatient conditions and procedures.

During the 2017 study period -- inpatient stays from 2013-2015 -- these hospitals, as a group, had a 26.2 percent lower risk adjusted in-hospital mortality rate across 19 procedures and conditions where mortality was the clinical outcome, compared to all other hospitals. During this same period, if all other hospitals performed at the level of those facilities across those 19 procedures and conditions, 160,322 lives could potentially have been saved.

[Also: Healthgrades 2017 report ranks top hospitals]

Healthgrades compared hospitals receiving the award, as a group, to those who did not receive the award as a group. It found that, compared to non-recipient hospitals, patients treated in hospitals receiving the award had, on average, a 22.5 percent lower risk of dying of a heart attack; a 30.5 percent lower risk of dying of heart failure; a 36.7 percent lower risk of dying of pneumonia; a 25 percent lower risk of dying of stroke; a 25.1 percent lower risk of dying of sepsis; and a 24.4 percent lower risk of dying of respiratory failure.

"High marks in clinical quality are a major differentiator for hospitals, and have a profound effect on consumers when they make decisions about where to receive care," said Brad Bowman, MD, Healthgrades' chief medical officer, in a statement.

Here is the full list of awardees:

Twitter: @JELagasse