TidalHealth, the Delmarva-based health system including the hospitals TidalHealth Peninsula Regional and TidalHealth Nanticoke, has been recognized with 30 clinical achievements for the safety and care it provides to patients across cardiac, orthopedic, neurosciences, pulmonary, vascular, prostate surgery, gastrointestinal, critical care and labor and delivery service lines in a national study by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for information about physicians and hospitals.

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 evaluated outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states.

American hospitals cannot opt in or opt out of a Healthgrades analysis.

For the seventh consecutive year, TidalHealth was also named one of Healthgrades 50 Best Hospitals in the United States for Vascular Surgery (2015-2021).

The recognitions also include five Healthgrades Excellence Awards for Orthopedic Surgery (2017-2021), Joint Replacement (2021), Vascular Surgery (2015-2021), Critical Care (2020 and 2021) and Patient Safety (2017-2020).

TidalHealth also achieved national recognition from Healthgrades for being in the Top 5 percent or 10 percent in the United States for the following clinical services:

• Top 5 percent for Patient Safety/3 Years in a row (2018-2020)
• Top 10 percent for Patient Safety since 2017
• Top 5 percent for Vascular Surgery (2021)
• Top 10 percent for Vascular Surgery since 2015
• Top 10 percent for Orthopedic Services/5 Years in a row (2017-2021)
• Top 10 percent in Joint Replacement Surgery
• Top 10 percent for Critical Care/2 Years in a row (2020 and 2021)

 Additionally, TidalHealth received 17 5-Star ratings across all nine services reviewed.  That signifies those are performing better than expected when compared to the nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide surveyed by Healthgrades in 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions.

Many of the 5-Star ratings have been achieved in multiple consecutive years at TidalHealth including pneumonia, which has held the designation for 15 straight years, and carotid procedures for the past 11 consecutive years.

New 5-Star designations for TidalHealth in 2021 include Treatment of Heart Attack, Total Hip Replacement and Hip Fracture Treatment. 

“Hospital quality has never been more important, and consumers are becoming more aware of the importance of researching where they receive care before they visit a hospital for a specific procedure or condition,” said Dr. Brad Bowman, Chief Medical Officer at Healthgrades. “Hospitals that receive a Healthgrades 5-star rating for [procedure/condition] demonstrate exceptional outcomes and their ability to provide quality care for patients.” 

TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, one of two hospitals in the health system, also holds the Healthgrades distinction of being one of America’s BEST 250 Hospitals in 2020, placing it in the Top 5% of all United States hospitals for the overall care provided to its patients.  It is the only hospital on Delmarva with that honor, and has held that designation for three consecutive years.  The 2021 America’s BEST 250 Hospital recipients will be announced in February of next year.

“TidalHealth is better together because of our team of employees, medical staff, and volunteers.  Our Healthgrades clinical successes are a direct result of their dedication and devotion to every patient and family member,” said Dr. Steven Leonard, President/CEO of TidalHealth.

“Quality and safety remain at the heart of everything we do as an organization,” Leonard said. “To be placed among the nation’s best once again by Healthgrades reinforces that we have assembled the finest healthcare team in the region that is committed to outstanding clinical outcomes and quality patient care.”

Healthgrades analysis shows that patients treated at hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have a lower risk of dying and a lower risk of experiencing one or more complications during a hospital stay than if they were treated at hospitals receiving a 1-star rating in that procedure or condition. From 2017 through 2019, if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to hospitals receiving 5-stars as a group, on average, 218,785 lives could potentially have been saved and complications in 148,681 patients could potentially have been avoided.