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Albany Med’s Cardiovascular Services Named on National Top 100 List

ALBANY, N.Y., November 16, 2009—Albany Medical Center is one the top 100 U.S. hospitals for cardiovascular care, according to a study released today by Thomson Reuters, a national health research firm.

According to Thomson Reuters, its annual study—100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks—examined the performance of 971 hospitals by analyzing outcomes for patients with heart failure and heart attacks and for those who received coronary bypass surgery or percutaneous cardiovascular interventions (PCI) such as angioplasties. The study identifies “the cardiovascular hospitals that set the highest national performance levels for both clinical and managerial excellence.”

“I am so proud of our cardiac team of physicians, nurses, and technicians, who provide the very best of care to our heart patients—be they patients undergoing routine cardiac procedures or those with very complicated conditions that need Albany Med’s comprehensive expertise and quality care,” said Edward Philbin, M.D., associate professor, endowed chair in cardiology, and vice chair of the department of medicine.  

The study, in its 11th year, found that the 100 Top Hospitals have:

• 17 percent lower mortality rates for heart attack patients.
• 10 percent lower mortality rates for heart failure patients.
• 27 percent lower mortality for bypass surgery patients.
• 22 percent lower mortality following PCI.
• Fewer post-operative complications - 99 percent of patients were complication-free.
• Close to 12 percent shorter average hospital stay.
• 12 percent lower cost per case.

According to Thomson Reuters, the top performing hospitals perform over 50 percent more cardiac surgeries than peer hospitals.

“These hospitals provide balanced high performance across cardiovascular services. This means they are providing high quality and highly efficient services at a reasonable cost in comparison to peers across the United States,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs at Thomson Reuters.

Albany Med’s program was listed among “Teaching Hospitals with Cardiovascular Residency Programs.” Others in the category included Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Lahey Clinic Medical Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the Cleveland Clinic Florida, Loyola University Medical Center, and University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.

Albany Medical Center treats nearly 10,000 adults and children for comprehensive heart care annually. Among its numerous medical and surgical services, Albany Med offers a fully digital echocardiography laboratory and a digital electrophysiology laboratory, the only facility of its kind in the region, as well as a bi-plane angiography suite. Albany Med also is home to the Cardiac Patient Simulator, which assists physicians, nurses and medical students in studying a variety of cardiac conditions and to practice their techniques in conducting examinations.

Albany Medical Center also has been recognized several times by the American Heart Association/Stroke Association for leading the nation in following evidence-based guidelines for patients with heart failure, coronary artery disease and stroke.

Thomson Reuters delivers critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, health care and science and media markets. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: TRI) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TRI). For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

Albany Medical Center is northeastern New York’s only academic health sciences center. It consists of Albany Medical College, Albany Medical Center Hospital and the Albany Medical Center Foundation, Inc. Additional information about Albany Medical Center can be found at www.amc.edu.
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