St. Joseph’s Hospital Named One of the Nation's 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Fortune and PINC AI

Today, St. Joseph’s Hospital was named one of the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals™ according to an independent quality analysis provided by PINC AI™ and reported by Fortune. This is the fifth time and the third consecutive year St. Joseph’s has made this prestigious list. 

St. Joseph’s Hospital, part of BayCare Health System, is the only Tampa Bay-area hospital to make the list, having demonstrated significantly higher survival rates associated with cardiac care, with fewer readmissions and complications.

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

“At St. Joseph’s Hospital, we continually pursue clinical excellence provided by compassionate caregivers,” said Kimberly Guy, co-chief operating officer of BayCare. “Our selection as a Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospital validates our team’s efforts and strengthens our reputation as a cardiovascular leader not only in the Tampa Bay area but also in the nation.” 

50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals™ program performance

This year, the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals^TM program winners had better results on indicators intended to measure clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, financial performance and patient experience. 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% higher).
• Fewer patients with complications (13.2 to 15.4% 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% versus 70%.

“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 St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa 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.”

St. Joseph’s Hospital nationally renowned Heart and Vascular Institute continues to grow in size and reputation, while providing exceptional patient experiences. Each year, the hospital performs more than 500 open-heart surgeries, 600 interventional procedures, 900 diagnostic services and 11,500 diagnostic tests. It has received the highest rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons for five consecutive years. 

“I am grateful for our team members and physicians whose extraordinary work has earned national recognition for a third consecutive year,” Guy said. “We want our community to know that when heart patients come through our doors, they will always receive high-quality, compassionate care from our multidisciplinary team of cardiac professionals.”

In July, St. Joseph’s Hospital was named among the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by Fortune/Merative® (now Premier Inc.) for the fifth consecutive time and sixth time overall. In addition, BayCare Health System, which includes St. Joseph’s Hospital as one of its 16 hospitals, was recognized by Fortune/Merative® for being in the top 20% of large health systems in the country. This is the fourth year in a row that BayCare has been recognized with this honor.