Southern Tennessee Regional Health System - Pulaski is 5-star rated for COPD outcomes according to new research released by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems. Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions using Medicare data, and additional analyzes outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states.

This analysis shows that patients treated at hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have a lower risk of dying and a lower risk of experiencing one or more complications during a hospital stay than if they were treated at hospitals receiving a 1-star rating in that procedure or condition. From 2017 through 2019, if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to hospitals receiving 5-stars as a group, on average, 218,785 lives could potentially have been saved and complications in 148,681 patients could potentially have been avoided.*

Additionally, from 2017 through 2019, patients treated for COPD in hospitals with 5-stars for in-hospital mortality have, on average, an 83.3 percent lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals with 1 star for in-house mortality. Similarly, patients treated for COPD in hospitals with 1-star for in-hospital mortality are, on average, 6.0 times more likely to die than if they were treated in hospitals with 5 stars for in-house mortality.*

“Hospital quality has never been more important, and consumers are becoming more aware of the importance of researching where they receive care before they visit a hospital for a specific procedure or condition,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Healthgrades. “Hospitals that receive a Healthgrades 5-star rating for COPD demonstrate exceptional outcomes and their ability to provide quality care for patients.” 

“We have been blessed to have been recognized by Healthgrades for four years running,” said hospital CEo, Jim Edmondson.  “The heart of this success, for which we are continually recognized, are the incredible people who make up our team.  It is a privilege to serve them.”

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures, and evaluated outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states. Healthgrades recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-star (statistically significantly better than expected), 3-star (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected). The complete Healthgrades 2021 Report to the Nation and detailed study methodology, can be found at https://partners.healthgrades.com/healthgrades-quality-solutions/healthgrades-quality-awards/.