EvergreenHealth ranked No. 1 in Washington state for Stroke Care by Healthgrades
The health system leads the state for stroke care for the second year in a row
Kirkland, Washington – EvergreenHealth has been ranked No. 1 in Washington for Stroke Care according to a new analysis released by Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting doctors and patients. This is the second year Healthgrades has published a state rankings list, and EvergreenHealth has held the top spot for stroke care both years.
According to EvergreenHealth neurologist Sheila Smith, MD, the ranking reflects EvergreenHealth's commitment to provide superior stroke care to patients on the Eastside and beyond.
"With strokes and other emergency cerebrovascular conditions, it's critical to receive a diagnosis and appropriate treatments as quickly as possible," Dr. Smith explained. "Our goal has been to build a world-class program that delivers the highest levels of stroke care to patients in their own community to help ensure they have the best opportunity for recovery. This ranking validates that when patients suffer a stroke or need ongoing neurological care, they don't need to travel far to receive our state's highest-rated clinical care."
For its State Ranking analysis, Healthgrades evaluated clinical performance for nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide, focusing on 18 key specialties across a mix of chronic, urgent and surgical specialty areas.
Hospitals recognized as top-ranked in their state by Healthgrades are providing patients with consistently better-than-expected clinical outcomes. For example, from 2019 to 2021, patients treated at hospitals receiving a state ranking for Stroke Care have, on average, a 38.7% lower risk of dying than if they were treated in hospitals that were not state ranked for Stroke Care.*
EvergreenHealth's stroke program is part of the Eastside Neuroscience Institute, a collaboration between EvergreenHealth and Overlake Medical Center & Clinics leveraging the organizations' collective expertise, technology and resources to provide comprehensive neuroscience and spine care that meets the needs of the growing community.
EvergreenHealth has focused on attracting top stroke specialists, adopting the latest technology to streamline communication and diagnosis, and building out a full suite of multi-disciplinary neurology services on the EvergreenHealth campus.
These efforts also helped EvergreenHealth stroke services achieve certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center for 2022 from DNV Healthcare. This certification means that the stroke program meets the highest national standards for stroke care. EvergreenHealth's stroke team is one of the few Comprehensive Stroke Centers in Washington state to achieve this status.
According to EvergreenHealth Stroke Program Supervisor Celia Attwell, RN, access to high-quality stroke care has remained critical throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
"A comprehensive survey conducted in August showed that the COVID-19 pandemic did not reduce the number of stroke patients coming through our doors," Attwell said. "However, our response times have not slipped, even as the pandemic presents new challenges – in fact, in many cases they have improved."
Investing in new technology has helped the program achieve positive outcomes. For example, the team adopted the Pulsara platform, which streamlines communications and activates stroke care services at the push of a button whenever and wherever a patient is experiencing a stroke throughout the EvergreenHealth campus. The team also introduced RapidAI technology in the screening process, improving the speed and accuracy of every stroke diagnosis and evaluation. Both of these leading-edge technologies significantly reduce the time it takes for a patient experiencing a stroke to receive treatment, which plays a huge role in saving brain function and saving lives.
"Being ranked No. 1 in Washington for Stroke services is a testament to EvergreenHealth's continued commitment to top-quality care," said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Data Science, Healthgrades. "Hospitals receiving a No. 1 ranking in their state have a proven track record of delivering superior outcomes for the patients in their community. For almost 25 years, our mission has been to provide consumers with clear and accessible information to make more informed health care decisions. Patients can feel confident knowing that they have access to #1 ranked care for Stroke services at EvergreenHealth."
EvergreenHealth was also ranked No. 1 in Washington for critical care, GI services and pulmonary services.
Visit www.healthgrades.com for more information on how Healthgrades measures hospital quality and access the complete recipient list and methodology here.
To learn more about stroke services at EvergreenHealth, visit www.evergreenhealth.com/stroke.
*Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2019 through 2021 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only.
