ANN ARBOR — IBM Watson Health, formerly Truven Health Analytics, placed three Michigan hospitals on its list of the top 50 cardiovascular hospitals.
The list identifies top American hospitals for inpatient cardiovascular services based on a national scorecard of hospital performance metrics. The list is now in its 20th year.
The benchmarks are inpatient survival rates, lower levels of complications, shorter length of stay, lower cost, adn lower readmission rates.
“Cardiovascular disease is among the most widespread and costliest diseases in the U.S. with an annual price tag of roughly $317 billion,” said Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals program leader at IBM Watson Health. “It is estimated that cardiovascular disease accounts for approximately $1 out of every $6 spend on healthcare in the country. That’s why it is so critical that hospitals find new and innovative ways to deliver better care at a lower cost. The winning hospitals in our study have established the new benchmark for cardiac care performance by driving consistently better outcomes at a lower cost per case than non-winning hospitals.”
Watson Health officials said that if all cardiovascular providers in the U.S. performed at the level of this year’s winners, results industry-wide could mean more than 10,300 lives saved, $1.8 billion in costs saved, and 2,800 additional bypass and angioplasty patients living complication-free.
To determine the 50 top U.S. hospitals for heart care, IBM Watson Health researchers analyzed 2016 and 2017 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, 2017 Medicare cost reports and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Compare published in the second quarter of 2018.
Winners in Michigan included McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mt. Clemens in the category of teaching hospitals with cardiovascular residency programs, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor in the category of teaching hospitals without cardiovascular residency programs, and McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey in the category of community hospitals.
Visit 100tophospitals.com for more information. More about Watson Health at ibm.com/watson/health.