FORT PIERCE — Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute has received the Five-Star Award for Labor and Deliver and Gynecological Surgery in 2018 from Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

This achievement is part of new findings and data released on July 31, 2018, by Healthgrades and featured in the Healthgrades 2018 Report to the Nation. Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 34 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions.

The new report demonstrates how clinical performance continues to differ dramatically between hospitals regionally and nationally. A 5-star rating indicates that Lawnwood’s clinical outcomes are statistically significantly better than expected when treating the condition or performing the procedure being evaluated.

From 2014-2016, patients having a Vaginal Delivery in hospitals with 5-star ratings have, on average, 42.7 percent lower risk of experiencing a complication while in the hospital than if they were treated by hospitals with a 1-star and patients having a Vaginal Delivery in hospitals receiving 1 star are, on average, 1.7 times more likely to experience one or more complications than if they were treated in hospitals with 5-stars.

“Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute has had a long track record of providing outstanding healthcare services on the Treasure Coast,” said Eric Goldman, chief executive officer of Lawnwood. “Ensuring patients are not only receiving the highest quality care and specialized services, but are administered in the safest possible manner is among our highest priorities. This award further validates our commitment to the community we serve. Being the area’s only Level II Trauma Center, Comprehensive Stroke Center and Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit means that we have the greatest responsibility in safeguarding our patients. We are honored to receive this award as it exemplifies our passion for safety and exceptional care.’’

“In an environment where consumers have more choices about where to receive their care, a hospital’s commitment to achieving high-quality outcomes is fundamental,” said Dr. Brad Bowman, chief medical officer of Healthgrades. “Because consumers place such value on this information, hospitals that achieve five stars for procedures/conditions stand out in their marketplace.”

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures, and evaluate outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 17 states. Healthgrades recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-star (statistically significantly better than expected), 3-star (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected) categories. The complete Healthgrades 2018 Report to the Nation and detailed study methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com/quality.

This article was distributed through Treasure Coast Business, a news service for the readers and advertisers of Indian River Magazine.