Press Releases (2006)

National Study Names Elkhart General Hospital Best in South Bend Area for Cardiology for the Third Year in a Row
October 19, 2006

Elkhart, IN – HealthGrades announced today that for the third consecutive year, Elkhart General Hospital has been rated the top provider of cardiology services in the South Bend area, according to a comprehensive study released by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare ratings company. Also for the third year in a row, Elkhart General was ranked among the best hospitals in the sate for overall cardiac care, as well as being named the best in the South Bend area for heart care.

The study’s evaluation of cardiac care included cardiac surgery, cardiology and the medical treatment of heart disease such as congestive heart failure. The hospital received five star ratings for: coronary bypass surgery, the treatment of heart failure, and the treatment of sepsis (infection of the blood).

As part of its ninth annual Hospital Quality in America Study, HealthGrades independently analyzed more than 5,000 hospitals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for its 2007 ratings, objectively assessing their clinical outcomes and quality. The 40 million hospitalization records utilized in the assessment are publicly available and licensed from the federal government’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The HealthGrades ratings take into account varying degrees of patient severity from hospital to hospital and measure whether patient outcomes for each of more than two dozen procedures and diagnoses are better than expected (5-Star), as expected (3-Star), or worse than expected (1-Star).

“Consumers continue to ask for more and better information to help then in their health care decision making,” said Samantha Collier, MD, HealthGrades’ Vice President of Medical Affairs. “Our analysis provides and apples-to-apples comparison of hospital performance by procedure or diagnosis, and it is evident there is significant variance between individual hospitals. For Elkhart General Hospital to be named the region’s best hospital for cardiology three consecutive years reflects the efforts of everybody in the organization, and should be very comforting to area residents.”

The 2007 HealthGrades ratings for all hospitals nationwide are available, free of charge, on HealthGrades’ consumer web site, located at www.healthgrades.com. More than three million individuals and employees of more than 125 major employers visit the HealthGrades web site every month to access quality information about hospitals, nursing homes and physicians. HealthGrades also provides consumers and payers with detailed assessments of hospitals’ patient-safety outcomes, based in indicators developed by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

About HealthGrades
HealthGrades (Nasdaq:HGRD) is the leading healthcare ratings company, providing ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers, corporations, health plans and hospitals. Millions of consumers and hundreds of the nation’s largest employers, health plans and hospitals rely on HealthGrades’ independent ratings to make healthcare decisions based on the quality of care. More information on the company can be found at www.healthgrades.com.