Healthgrades recently released its annual Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ list, and EvergreenHealth was one of just 250 hospitals nationwide to receive the prestigious award in 2018.

EvergreenHealth has earned the award from Healthgrades nine times in 10 years. The distinction places the Kirkland-based health system among the top 5 percent of nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for its clinical performance.

Healthgrades, an online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals, announced the award along with data on clinical outcomes, risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complication rates to recognize the nation’s top-performing hospitals.

“It is an honor to once again be recognized by Healthgrades for our dedication to quality clinical care and outstanding outcomes,” EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte said in a press release. “This is our ninth time being honored, and the result of our focus on continually enhancing our approach to patient-centered care. Each year, we renew our commitment to achieving the highest levels of clinical excellence with the contributions and concerted efforts of our doctors, nurses, staff and volunteers across our system. We’re proud this recognition reflects their care and dedication.”

Over the last year, EvergreenHealth has earned several other Healthgrades recognitions, including its America’s 100 Best™ Hospitals Award for stroke care, pulmonary care, critical care, gastrointestinal care and general surgery. In 2017, it joined Healthgrades’ group of America’s 100 Best Hospitals™, which represent the top 2 percent of hospitals across the country for consistent quality care.

“Given the variation in clinical quality that exists between hospitals, it is more important than ever for consumers to do their research and use information like this to assess their care decisions,” Brad Bowman, Healthgrades’ M.D., Chief Medical Officer, said in a press release. “Those hospitals that have received Healthgrades’ 2018 Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence award have proven their steadfast commitment to providing quality care to patients.”

From 2014 to 2016, Healthgrades’ Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence, as a group, had a 26.3 percent lower risk of adjusted in-hospital mortality across 19 procedures and conditions where mortality was the clinical outcome, compared to hospitals that did not receive this distinction.

During this same period, if all other hospitals performed at the level of Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence across these procedures and conditions, 159,924 lives could potentially have been saved. For example, patients treated for respiratory failure at a hospital that achieved the Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence award had, on average, a 24.5 percent lower risk of dying than if treated at a hospital that did not receive the award.*

The 250 recipients of the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence stand out among the rest for overall clinical excellence across a broad spectrum of care. During the 2018 study period (2014-2016), these hospitals showed superior performance in clinical outcomes for patients in the Medicare population across at least 21 of 32 of the most common inpatient conditions and procedures — as measured by objective clinical outcomes performance data (risk-adjusted mortality and in-hospital complications).

To learn more about how Healthgrades determines Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence recipients, visit www.healthgrades.com/quality.

For a complete list of EvergreenHealth’s recent Healthgrades awards and achievements, visit www.evergreenhealth.com/healthgrades.

*Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2014 through 2016 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.