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HealthGrades Names Beebe Medical Center Recipient of the Coronary Intervention Excellence Award for 2012

10/18/11

"HealthGrades Names Beebe Medical Center Recipient of the Coronary Intervention Excellence Award" for 2012

" Beebe Medical Center Ranked Among the Top 5% In the Nation for Coronary Interventional Procedures in 2012

" Beebe Medical Center ranked #1 in Delaware for Coronary Interventional Procedures for 2 Years in a Row (2011-2012)

" 5-Star rated for Coronary Interventional Procedures for 2 Years in a Row (2011-2012)


Lewes, DE (October 18, 2011) Beebe Medical Center's interventional cardiology program, for the second year in a row, has become the highest ranked program in Delaware, according to Healthgrades, a leading independent healthcare ratings organization.

Healthgrades, in its 2012 rankings, gave Beebe's interventional cardiology program a 5-star rating for coronary interventional procedures (stents, angioplasty), and rated the program as #1 in Delaware for coronary interventional procedures, based upon clinical outcomes from 2008 to 2010.

HealthGrades also named Beebe Medical Center Recipient of the Coronary Intervention Excellence Award" for 2012 -- an impressive attainment for a coronary interventions program that started only four years ago.

I am extremely proud of our team and their diligence towards attaining this award, says Dr. Ehtasham Qureshi, Medical Director of Beebe's Cardiovascular Catheterization program and a board certified interventional cardiologist. It is a very satisfying feeling, both personally and professionally, to provide this heart and life-saving service to our community. The HealthGrades recognition is a testament of our hard work, expertise and dedication to our profession and community.

Beebe has performed more than 6,000 diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac catheterization procedures since 2006, including more than 1,500 interventional procedures such as angioplasty and stents.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the number one killer of patients in the United States and the western world. An aging population and rampant diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol all contribute toward clogging of heart arteries resulting in a myocardial infarction or heart attack. A heart attack can cause permanent damage to heart muscle with devastating long-term results, i.e., if the patients are lucky to survive it.

With a growing need in the community, Beebe Medical Center planned, invested, and executed its ambitious interventional cardiology program in 2006. Patients with blocked heart arteries could be accommodated with immediate or scheduled procedures.

Today, the interventional cardiologists at Beebe Medical Center - Drs. Qureshi, MD, Mouhanad Freih, MD, and G. Robert Myers, MD, are available around the clock to immediately take care of patients with a heart attack. Patients are quickly taken to the cardiac catheterization laboratory where the highly trained interventional cardiologists can perform the sophisticated and very high-risk procedure of opening up the clogged artery, thus restoring blood flow to heart muscle and save valuable tissue.

The national average time from entry to the emergency department with a heart attack and opening up the clogged artery is required to be less than 90 minutes. At Beebe Medical Center, the average time is an impressive 58 minutes. The program has been providing coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week, since November 2008.

We are honored to have earned this recognition from HealthGrades, and we are extremely proud of our Beebe team, said Jeffery M. Fried, FACHE, Beebe Medical Center President and CEO. Our goal at Beebe Medical Center is to continually strive to reach and maintain excellence in healthcare. This recognition of our coronary intervention program reflects the dedication of everyone in the medical center family involved to deliver a quality program that meets a critical need in our community.

Beebe Medical Center's interventional program is a comprehensive collaboration between the Emergency Department, dedicated cardiac catheterization laboratory nurses and staff, the Intensive Care Unit and dedicated cardiac units as well as an expert team of interventional cardiologists. There is full time availability of cardiothoracic surgery for higher risk patients as well as an accredited cardiac rehabilitation program.


Key findings of the HealthGrades 2011 Healthcare Consumerism and Hospital Quality in America report include:

" Patients had, on average a 73% lower risk of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to a 1-star rated hospital, and a54% lower risk of dying in a 5-star rated hospital compared to the national average.

" Patients were 63% less likely to experience inhospital complications than patients at 1-star programs, and had a 43% lower chance of developing an inhospital complication than the national average.

" If all Medicare patients from 2008 through 2010 had been treated at 5-star hospitals, 240,040 lives could have potentially been saved.

" If all Medicare patients from 2008 through 2010 had gone to 5-star hospitals for their procedure, 164,472 inhospital complications could have potentially been avoided.


About Beebe Medical Center
Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit community medical center with a charitable mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health with the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit us online at www.beebemed.org


About HealthGrades
HealthGrades is America's most trusted, independent source of physician information and hospital qualityoutcomes. HealthGrades online properties are the nation's leading destination for physician search andempower more than 170 million consumers annually to make informed healthcare decisions.


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