SwedishAmerican ranked in top 5% for women’s care

ROCKFORD — An independent study of women’s care at nearly 5,000 hospitals found SwedishAmerican to be ranked in the top five percent in the nation.

The HealthGrades Seventh Annual Women’s Health in American Hospitals study analyzed nearly 7 million hospitalization records to identify top-performing hospitals.

SwedishAmerican is one of 166 hospitals in the nation with patient outcomes for women in the top 5 percent according to the study, which included analysis of:

Women’s medicine — heart attack, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and stroke.

Women’s cardiovascular procedures — coronary bypass surgery, peripheral vascular bypass, coronary interventional procedures, resection/replacement of abdominal aorta, carotid surgery and valve replacement.

Women’s bone and joint health — total knee and total hip replacement surgeries, spinal surgeries and hip fracture repair.

“There is clearly a wide disparity in the quality of care for women among top-performing and all others,” said Dr. Rick May, a vice president with HealthGrades and one of the study’s authors. “The goal of this analysis is to not only put sound data in the hands of prospective patients, but also to identify top-performing hospitals who are setting national benchmarks for the treatment of women to which other hospitals can aspire.”