FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 19, 2007
Contact: Ellen Beth Levitt eblevitt@umm.edu
Bill Seiler bseiler@umm.edu 410-328-8919

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER IS RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF NATION'S TOP HOSPITALS FOR CARDIOVASCULAR CARE

Thomson (Formerly Solucient) Uses Objective Performance Measures For Top Hospitals List

For More Information

UM Heart Center ranked among nation's 50 best heart programs in U.S. News and World Report's 2007 America's Best Hospitals issue.
UM Heart Center leaders create innovations in patient care and research.

The University of Maryland Medical Center is one of the nation’s top, standard-setting teaching hospitals for cardiovascular care, according to the newly released 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Thomson Healthcare for 2007.

Thomson’s national Benchmarks for Success study looked at eight objective performance criteria to develop its list of best hospitals, including clinical processes and outcomes, patient safety, efficiency, financial performance and growth in patient volumes. Thomson evaluated hospital performance in treating acute heart attack, congestive heart failure, coronary artery bypass surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention (angioplasty).

"Our leaders in Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery are focused on moving innovative therapies and technologies to the bedside as rapidly as possible. Their continuous emphasis on these new approaches to treating heart disease elevates the level of excellence in our program, and this recognition by Thompson Healthcare is well deserved,” says Jeffrey A. Rivest, President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Maryland Medical Center.

The 2007 Thomson 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success study examined the performance of nearly 1,000 U.S. hospitals. The University of Maryland Medical Center is the only teaching hospital in Maryland, Delaware or Washington, D.C. on the list.

“Our chief of Cardiology, Dr. Mandeep Mehra, and our chief of Cardiac Surgery, Dr. Bartley Griffith, have a collaborative, team approach to caring for the individual needs of our patients. As a result, all members of the team—including doctors, nurses and pharmacists—work together to plan and deliver coordinated, individualized care for each patient. They also have introduced many innovations in patient care, including a variety of minimally invasive approaches to treating heart disease,” adds Rivest.

“Our strength lies in our collaborative medical and surgical team approach that focuses on best practices for our patients,” says Dr. Mehra, chief of Cardiology, who is also a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Using a multi-disciplinary approach, we are able to transfer cutting-edge discovery and innovative care to our patients. What differentiates us from other heart centers is our relentless focus on personalized medicine while achieving best outcomes in tackling the most advanced cardiovascular conditions.”

For example, patients who would benefit from both bypass surgery and angioplasty for multi-vessel heart blockages can have both procedures performed at the same time in a specially outfitted operating room. The cardiologist and cardiac surgeon work side by side. It is called the Hybrid procedure and the University of Maryland Medical Center was among the first in the nation to institute this approach. It means patients get the best treatment for their individual needs, with the convenience of having only one procedure.

Other examples of collaborative programs include the medical center’s Heart Failure and Transplantation Program and the Atrial Fibrillation Program, in which cardiologists and cardiac surgeons who sub-specialize in these areas work together for the benefit of patients. This team approach contributed to a 25 percent growth in cardiac admissions from 2004 to 2006.

“Our focus on innovation and bringing research advances to the bedside has enabled us to provide faster recovery for patients and better outcomes,” says Bartley P. Griffith, M.D., chief of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center and professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “For example, we have led the development and use of minimally invasive approaches that do not require a big incision for performing multi-vessel heart bypass operations and for treating valve disease. Our heart program has become known as a place with the expertise and willingness to go the extra mile to help people with even the most complex health challenges.”

Being named to the Thomson 100 Top Hospitals list for Cardiovascular Care is the most recent recognition of the University of Maryland Medical Center’s superior patient care. The medical center was listed in the US News & World Report’s Best Hospitals ranking for Heart Disease in 2007 and, for the second year in a row, was named to the Leapfrog Group’s elite list of the nation’s best acute-care hospitals for quality and patient safety in 2007.

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The University of Maryland Medical Center is a 689-bed teaching hospital in downtown Baltimore that provides a full range of health care to people from throughout Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region. It is a referral center for the most serious and complicated health problems in adults and children, including cancer, trauma, heart disease, neurological conditions and organ transplants. All members of the UMMC medical staff are on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

For more information on the Thomson 100 Top Hospitals: www.100tophospitals.com

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This page was last updated on: December 29, 2011.