Quality Awards & Designations
Thomson Top 100 Award in Cardiovascular Care

Saint Alphonsus is pleased to announce it has been named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® for cardiovascular care by Thomson Healthcare.
The annual Thomson Healthcare award is based on hospitals’ performance treating congestive heart failure and heart attacks. This is the fourth time Saint Alphonsus has been recognized with this honor. The 2007 winners were announced November 19.

Steven Writer, M.D., the Medical Director for Cardiology Services, said, “Saint Alphonsus is honored to receive this recognition. This national recognition speaks to the high caliber of cardiac care and expertise in the Treasure Valley. We are dedicated to providing excellence in cardiovascular care by following guideline protocols set by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology. These national standards applied locally translate into superb outcomes and we are honored to receive this recognition.”

The Heart and Vascular Center at Saint Alphonsus was established in July 1994 and is a full-service provider of cardiac care, housed within an advanced, state-of-the-art environment. The Heart and Vascular Center provides medical expertise in the areas of cardiac surgery, catheterization labs, coronary and telemetry care and diagnostic services, in addition to disease prevention, cardiac rehabilitation and wellness programs.

Among the key findings from the 2007 Thomson 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success study:

• If all cardiovascular hospitals achieved the same results as the 100 Top Hospitals award winners, more than 7,000 lives would be saved and nearly 750 medical complications would be avoided annually.
• The award winners reported hospital stays that were 12 percent shorter, on average, than peer hospitals (5.14 days compared with 5.85 days).
• The 100 Top Hospitals reported costs that averaged 13 percent — or about $2,000 — less per case than peer hospitals.
• There was a large difference in the volume of heart procedures performed by the winning hospitals and their peers.
• The 100 Top Hospitals performed nearly two-thirds more coronary artery bypass grafts and percutaneous coronary interventions such as angioplasty.

Thomson Healthcare scored facilities in eight key performance areas: risk-adjusted medical mortality, risk-adjusted surgical mortality, risk-adjusted complications, core measures score, percentage of CABG patients with internal mammary artery use, procedure volume, severity-adjusted average length of stay, and wage- and severity-adjusted average cost.

About Thomson Healthcare
Thomson Healthcare is a part of The Thomson Corporation, a provider of value-added information, software tools and applications to professionals in the fields of healthcare, law, tax, accounting, scientific research, and financial services. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). For more information, visit www.thomsonhealthcare.com. Thomson Healthcare is the leading provider of decision support solutions that help organizations across the healthcare industry improve clinical and business performance. Thomson Healthcare products and services help clinicians, hospitals, employers, health plans, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies manage the cost and improve the quality of healthcare.
Learn more about this award and Thomson 100 Hospitals by clicking here.

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