Pensacola, Fla. (December 12, 2019) – Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola has been named as one of the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by IBM Watson HealthTM.

The recognition is based on IBM Watson Health’s annual study that spotlights the top-performing cardiovascular hospitals in the U.S., based on a balanced, objective scorecard of publicly-available clinical and operational data.

This is the third time in the past five years Ascension Sacred Heart’s Pensacola hospital has been recognized with this honor.

“This award is a well-deserved recognition of the expertise and quality of care provided by our cardiovascular specialists — both the physicians and all of the hospital staff who care for our cardiac patients,” said Tom VanOsdol, president and CEO of Ascension Florida. “The study determined that our Pensacola hospital is able to deliver better outcomes for patients while operating more efficiently and at a lower cost.”

Based on the results of this year’s study, IBM Watson estimated that if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities:

• More than 11,000 additional lives could be saved;
• More than 2,800 additional heart patients could be complication-free; and
• Over $1.5 billion could be saved.

“By finding ways to continuously improve and innovate, the winners of our 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals study are identifying opportunities to deliver healthcare value to patients, communities, and payers,” said Ekta Punwani, MHA, 100 Top Hospitals® program leader at IBM Watson Health. “The top performing hospitals demonstrated better clinical care and were more efficient than their peers at delivering this care.”

Some of the measures used in the study included:

• Inpatient mortality rates for patients who have heart attacks or heart failure, or who undergo coronary bypass surgery or non-surgical procedures to treat narrowing of the coronary arteries.
• Complication rates for patients who had heart bypass surgeries and interventional procedures
• Readmission rates within 30 days of hospital treatment
• Average length of hospital stay for cardiac patients
• Average cost per case

The study analyzed the two most recent years of federal Medicare data collected on cardiology patients. The researchers found that winning hospitals delivered significantly higher inpatient survival rates with fewer complications. The study included 989 U.S. hospitals with cardiovascular service lines.

For more information, visit www.100tophospitals.com.

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