Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center Named Top Cardiovascular Hospital

Reno, Nevada (November 16, 2021) – Earlier this week, Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center was named as one of the nation’s top performing hospitals by Fortune and IBM^® Watson Health^®. The annual Fortune/IBM 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals study spotlights leading short-term, acute care, non-federal US hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of cardiology patients. Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center was the only hospital in Nevada to receive this national recognition.

Based on the methodology used by Watson Health, the study concludes that if all United States hospitals' cardiovascular service lines performed at the level of these study winners, some 6,400 additional lives and roughly $1.4 billion could be saved, and 5,000 additional bypass and angioplasty patients could be complication-free.

“Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the hospitals recognized on the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals list are providing quality care in one of the most critical areas,” said Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals Program Leader, IBM Watson Health. “Hospitals are constantly working to improve clinical and operational performance, and the exceptional organizations on this list demonstrate the standard for top performing cardiac care. Their benchmarks serve as a real-world checkpoint for cardiovascular care across the U.S.”

This year's study included 951 U.S. hospitals with cardiovascular service lines. Compared to similar cardiovascular hospitals, this year’s winning hospitals had better results on indicators intended to measure clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, financial performance, and patient experience.

“This accomplishment is a testament to our mission of quality, award winning care and the dedication and expertise of our cardiology team,” said Tiffany Coury, CEO of Saint Mary’s Health Network. “Our physicians, nurses, and staff are among the highest performers in cardiovascular care nationwide and we are honored to be recognized as we strive to provide the very best care to every patient, every day.”

New to the study this year is the inclusion of a patient experience measure based on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey as reported in the CMS Hospital Compare data set. Patient perception of care – or the patient "experience" – is crucial to the balanced scorecard concept and has a direct effect on a hospital's ability to remain competitive in the market. As with other measures, winning hospitals outperformed their peers in the HCAHPS measure in all comparison groups.

Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center, an accredited Chest Pain Center by the American College of Cardiology, is one of the nation’s top-performing cardiovascular hospitals. Along with being recognized as one of the nation’s 50 Top performing hospitals for cardiovascular services by Fortune and IBM® Watson Health®, Saint Mary’s has additionally earned the HeartCARE CenterTM designation and the Silver Performance Achievement for Chest Pain by the American College of Cardiology, as well as being recognized as a 5-Star recipient by Healthgrades for high-performing care in Carotid Surgery, Treatment of Heart Attack, and Heart Failure. Saint Mary’s cardiologists perform advanced procedures for high-risk patients such as trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and trans-catheter mitral valve repair (TMVr).

Dr. Richard Bryan, a practicing cardiologist and Chief Medical Officer for Saint Mary’s Health Network, described why Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center has been able to consistently deliver the highest level of cardiovascular care to patients, citing a commitment to growth and innovation.

“Our cardiologists’ dedication to innovation has allowed for cutting-edge technology to be brought to our community, and in turn we’re able to provide patients the very best in cardiac care,” added Bryan.

The annual report highlights the top-performing cardiovascular hospitals in the U.S. based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational, and patient satisfaction metrics and data.

The winning hospitals were announced in Fortune. For more information, visit https://www.ibm.com/products/50-top-cardiovascular-hospitals.