Published: November 19, 2008 11:16 pm      

KDMC named in top 100 for cardiac care

Ashland — For the third year in a row, King’s Daughters Medical Center has been named by Thomson Reuters as one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals for cardiovascular care. The annual study is used to identify the 100 U.S. hospitals that are setting the nation’s benchmarks for cardiovascular care.

The study — 2008 Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success — examined the performance of 970 hospitals by analyzing clinical outcomes for patients diagnosed with two prevalent cardiovascular conditions — heart failure and heart attacks; and two high-volume interventions — coronary bypass (open heart) surgery and angioplasty. The study equally weights performance criteria that reflect the use of evidence-based medicine, good clinical outcomes, high procedure volumes, great efficiency and reasonable cost.

“This is an outstanding accomplishment for not only our heart and vascular team, but also the entire medical center,” said KDMC President/CEO Fred Jackson.

The national recognitions for KDMC continue to grow, including:

‰5-Star rating by HealthGrades, placing KDMC’s program in the top five percent in the nation for cardiac surgery, three years in a row.

‰5-Star rating in Critical Care, making KDMC the best in the region for overall critical care.

‰Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals, four years in a row.

‰KDMC also recently became the first hospital in the nation designated as an accredited Heart Failure Institute by the National Healthcare Accreditation Colloquium.

‰Thomson Reuters 100 Top Cardiac Hospital, three years in a row.

”These important distinctions let patients know King’s Daughters provides excellent cardiac and critical care that is among the very best in the nation,” Jackson said. “Patients have a choice and this type of independent verification of our quality standards sets the King’s Daughters heart and vascular program apart from other hospitals,” he said.

To see the complete list of winners, visit www.100tophospitals.com. King’s Daughters is one of only two hospitals in Kentucky to make the list. KDMC said there were no West Virginia hospitals, and no other hospitals in the region to earn this dis