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Awards and Accreditations

BMC Honored by HealthGrades for Pulmonary, Critical Care & Stroke Care
December 12, 2012 For Immediate Release Healthgrades Names Berkshire Medical Center One of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care: BMC Also Ranks in Top 10% Nationally for Stroke, Pulmonary and Critical Care PITTSFIELD, MA – Berkshire Medical Center is one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care, according to a new report from Healthgrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make informed decisions about physicians and hospitals. BMC also received Healthgrades’ Excellence Awards in pulmonary care, stroke care, and critical care. These honors place BMC in the top 5 percent of hospitals in the U.S. for pulmonary care and the top 10 percent for both stroke and critical care. In Massachusetts, BMC is ranked 4th in all three categories of care for 2013. In addition, BMC received the 2012 Excellence Award for emergency medicine for performance in the top 5% in the nation earlier this year. The findings are part of American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation, which evaluates the performance of approximately 4,500 hospitals nationwide across nearly 30 of the most common conditions and procedures. “Our ongoing commitment to providing the highest quality patient care for our community is reflected in these latest recognitions,” said David Phelps, President of Berkshire Health Systems. “National honors from independent ratings organizations like Healthgrades are important, but not just for the awards themselves. For us, these recognitions represent years of commitment to excellence on the part of our physicians, clinicians, and staff. For the communities we serve, they can serve as an objective confirmation of exceptional quality. Residents of the Berkshires can feel confident that they are receiving the best care close to home.” Gray Ellrodt, MD, BMC Chief Quality Officer and Chairman of the Department of Medicine, said, “These awards are based on consistent clinical excellence over several years. This means that we treat every patient using the best clinical evidence, integrated with our staff’s extensive experience and an intense focus on the values and preferences of our patients and families. Since these awards are based on outcomes, including survival and low complication rates, we can be confident that our patient-centered focus is working for our community.” BMC received 5-star ratings from Healthgrades in a dozen areas of clinical care: heart attack, heart failure, hip fracture, stroke, overall pulmonary services, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, carotid surgery, peripheral vascular bypass, gastrointestinal bleed, sepsis, and respiratory failure. Many of these five-star ratings have been sustained over many years. Overall, Berkshire Medical Center was recognized for the following clinical achievements: America's Best 100 Hospitals • One of HealthGrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Pulmonary Care™ in 2013 Cardiac • Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Attack for 9 Years in a Row (2005-2013) • Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Failure for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013) Orthopedic • Ranked Among the Top 10 in MA for Overall Orthopedic Services in 2013 (Ranked 6 in 2013) • Five-Star Recipient for Hip Fracture Treatment in 2013 Neurosciences • Recipient of the HealthGrades Stroke Care Excellence Award™ for 4 Years in a Row (2010-2013) • Ranked Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Treatment of Stroke for 4 Years in a Row (2010-2013) • Ranked Among the Top 10 in MA for Treatment of Stroke for 7 Years in a Row (2007-2013) (Ranked 4 in 2013) • Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Stroke for 7 Years in a Row (2007-2013) Pulmonary • Recipient of the HealthGrades Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ for 5 Years in a Row (2009-2013) • Ranked Among the Top 5% in the Nation for Overall Pulmonary Services for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013) • Ranked Among the Top 10 in MA for Overall Pulmonary Services for 5 Years in a Row (2009-2013) (Ranked 4 in 2013) • Five-Star Recipient for Overall Pulmonary Services for 5 Years in a Row (2009-2013) • Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013) • Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Pneumonia for 5 Years in a Row (2009-2013) Vascular • Five-Star Recipient for Carotid Surgery in 2013 • Five-Star Recipient for Peripheral Vascular Bypass in 2013 Gastrointestinal • Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of GI Bleed in 2013 Critical Care • Recipient of the HealthGrades Critical Care Excellence Award™ for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013) • Ranked Among the Top 10% in the Nation for Critical Care for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013) • Ranked Among the Top 5 in MA for Critical Care for 6 Years in a Row (2008-2013) (Ranked 4 in 2013) • Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Sepsis for 5 Years in a Row (2009-2013) • Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Respiratory Failure for 2 Years in a Row (2012-2013) According to the Healthgrades study, the risk of death is 75% lower at hospitals receiving 5 stars compared to 1-star rated hospitals. Patients also have a 61% lower risk of complications at 5-star hospitals compared to 1-star rated hospitals. The 2013 performance outcomes are now available free to the public at www.healthgrades.com. For its 2013 hospital quality outcomes 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 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. Mortality and complication rates are risk adjusted, which takes into account each hospital’s unique population (demographics and severity of illness). The American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.