Center for Medical Consumers’ Study Shows Hospital for Special Surgery Is Top Performer in New York State Orthopedic Surgery

New York, NY—July 1, 2000

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is the top performing orthopedic surgery hospital in New York State, according to a new Center for Medical Consumers’performance study. The data in this report shows that HSS performed more hip replacements, knee replacements, spinal fusions and shoulder replacements than any other hospital in New York City and in New York State. In the areas of hip and knee replacements, HSS averaged 50% more surgeries than any other hospital. The Center compiled the numbers from data collected on every hospital patient by the New York State Health Department.

"As the oldest orthopedic hospital in the U.S., Hospital for Special Surgery physicians have long been handling a high volume of patients referred to us from doctors all over the world. There is no question in our minds that our vast experience gives us an excellent success rate," said John Reynolds, President of HSS. "This report is just the latest in a series of studies that ranks HSS as a leader in orthopedic surgery in the New York Metropolitan area. While each organization used different criteria, their conclusions highlight the importance of HSS as an orthopedic specialty hospital with the finest surgeons in the world."

In late 1999, HSS was the only hospital in New York State that HCIA listed in its 100 Top Hospitals: Orthopedic Benchmarks for Success study. Hospitals included in this study had mortality and complication indices that were 22 to 86 percent lower than those of their peers. These hospitals also had greater success than their peers did in holding down costs and lengths of stay. In mid 1999, HSS achieved the highest ranking in the northeastern United States in the categories of Orthopedics and Rheumatology in U.S.News & World Report’s latest "America’s Best Hospitals" publication. Dedicated to orthopedics and rheumatology, HSS was the only hospital in the New York metropolitan area to rank in the top ten in these specialties.

The Center for Medical Consumers (CMC) (www.medicalconsumers.org) is a New York based, non-profit advocacy organization. The CMC notes that while the relationship between volume or experience and quality has not been firmly established for every procedure or diagnosis, published studies have shown that volume and high quality outcomes are related for a number of diverse medical practices. In light of such studies, and because it makes common sense, it would appear reasonable to view procedural and diagnostic volume as one important indicator of a hospital’s or physician’s experience and skill.

HCIA Inc. (www.hcia.com) is a Baltimore-based healthcare information company that collects, manages, and distributes comparative health care information. To calculate the performance measures for the 100 Top Hospitals: Orthopedic Benchmarks for Success, HCIA conducted a computerized review and analysis of nearly 734,000 Medicare orthopedic cases. The following clinical and financial measures were used: Mortality rate, complications rate, count of unique patients, average length of stay, cost per patient and highest percentage of patients who came from and were discharged directly to their homes as opposed to being discharged to a rehabilitation facility.