March 23, 2023

University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center has been identified as one of the nation's 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals™ according to an independent quality analysis provided by PINC AI™ and reported by Fortune.

To select top performers, an objective, independent, quantitative research analysis was performed using publicly available data measuring cardiac care in the United States.

The renowned UM St. Joseph Sandra R. Berman Heart Institute provides life-saving care and leading-edge treatment for thousands of patients each year. The institute is a state-of-the-art, centralized service that provides a continuum of cardiac care which includes open heart surgery, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and a specialized TAVR procedure suite, a cardiac surgery unit, an all-digital cardiac catheterization laboratory, a 20-bed cardiac unit and more. As one of the hospital's centers of excellence, the institute is consistently recognized regionally and nationally for excellence in cardiac care and is a designated Cardiac Interventional Center and an EMS Base Station by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.

"We are extremely proud of our cardiac program and our incredible team members who work tirelessly to provide this lifesaving care," says UM St. Joseph Medical Center President and CEO Dr. Thomas B. Smyth. "Their dedication enables UM St. Joseph to be there for the community we serve with compassion and clinically excellent care."

50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals™ program performance

This year, the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals™ program winners delivered better outcomes while operating more efficiently and at a lower cost. Compared to a peer group of non-winning cardiovascular hospitals, this year's winners had:

  • Significantly higher inpatient survival rates (19.0 to 40.6 percent higher).
  • Fewer patients with complications (13.2 to 15.4 percent fewer complications).
  • Higher 30-day survival rates for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients (0.4 to 0.9 percentage points higher).
  • Lower 30-day readmission rates for AMI, HF, and CABG patients (0.5 to 1.0 percentage points lower).
  • Average lengths of stay (ALOS) varied between patient groups from 0.6 (AMI, HF, PCI) to 0.8 (CABG) shorter length of stay.
  • $860 to $5,076 less in total costs per patient case (the smallest dollar-amount difference was for HF, and the largest was for CABG).
  • Lower average 30-day episode of care payments for AMI and HF ($1,493 and $781 less per episode, respectively).
  • Patients had a better experience at benchmark hospitals compared to peer hospitals, with a top-box HCAHPS score of 75 percent versus 70 percent.

"Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for all Americans, resulting in nearly 700,000 deaths and $229 billion in added costs each year," said Leigh Anderson, Premier's President of Performance Services and the leader of PINC AI™. "Given the life and death nature of this condition, patients and their loved ones need credible information to help them determine where to go for the best possible care. This objective, data-driven study proves that HOSPITAL NAME excels across a range of core performance indicators, which directly leads to significantly higher survival rates associated with cardiac care, with fewer readmissions and complications."

About UM St. Joseph Medical Center

Founded in 1864 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, UM St. Joseph Medical Center is a 218-bed Catholic, not-for-profit regional medical center in Towson, Maryland, that ­­offers a wide range of superb clinical programs and centers of excellence, including the Cancer, Heart and Orthopaedic Institutes, Women and Children's services and Emergency Medicine. The medical center's committed focus on zero patient harm, clinical excellence and perfect patient experiences spurred the creation of the hospital's unique approach to care, The UM St. Joseph Value Delivery System, and has consistently earned UM St. Joseph regional and national recognition for patient care and safety, including its ranking as the #1 community hospital in Maryland by U.S. News & World Report. UM St. Joseph is a proud member of the 13-hospital University of Maryland Medical System, dedicated to providing loving service and compassionate, leading-edge care to all. For more information, visit umstjoseph.org.