News Releases

Memorial Hermann Northwest Receives Top Ranking in Treating Heart Failure

Houston, Texas, July 12, 2007 –- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced a milestone addition to the Hospital Compare consumer Web site (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov). The revised comparison tool will now give consumers even better insight into the quality of care provided by their local hospitals.

Out of 4,807 hospitals nationwide, four hospitals in the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, including Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital, were part of 38 that received a better than the national rate ranking for treating heart failure. Memorial Hermann Healthcare System was the only system in Texas to receive a better than the national rate ranking in this category.

“The goal of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System is to provide the best patient outcomes with exceptional patient care experiences. We are very pleased to produce outstanding outcomes for patients with heart disease,” stated Dr. Michael Shabot, chief quality officer for Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. “Using advanced technology, multiple quality and safety initiatives and the most compassionate patient care, we are making great strides in providing the best possible healthcare for our community.”

The updates provide consumers with an enhanced “snapshot” that captures information on the quality of care they received from providers. Besides updated pricing and volume information, the snapshot also now includes details on new outcomes such as mortality outcome measures that reflect care of patients with acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) and heart failure.

Looking ahead to 2008, Medicare will add patient satisfaction information to provide even more detail to help make available the information consumers need for health care decision making.

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