For the second time, Butler Memorial Hospital has been named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals for cardiovascular care by Thomson Reuters.

The annual 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 heart failure and heart attacks and for those who received coronary bypass surgery and angioplasties.

“These hospitals provide enormous value to their communities because heart disease is still the nation’s No. 1 killer. They have set the new national standard for cardiovascular disease outcomes, process of care, efficiency, and lower costs,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs in the health care business of Thomson Reuters.

The study, in its 10th year, found that the 100 Top Hospitals cardiovascular award winners as a group performed 63 percent more bypass surgeries and 42 percent more angioplasties than peer hospitals. This may suggest that performance of bypass surgery is increasingly performed in centers of excellence.

While the average mortality rate for cardiovascular patients is very low, 3.4 percent, the mortality rate for bypass surgery was 26 percent lower in the 100 top cardiovascular hospitals. The award-winning hospitals demonstrated higher performance on the evidence-based core measures published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“Butler Memorial Hospital is honored to be recognized with this prestigious award,” said Ken DeFurio, president and CEO. “This award, along with our continued investment in the Heart and Vascular Center of Butler Memorial Hospital, reflects our commitment to providing world-class health care to the community.”

This article was submitted by Butler Memorial Hospital.