Valdosta, GA —Congrats go out to the team at Spine Surgery at South Georgia Medical Center and its Smith Northview Campus. According to a recent report from Healthgrades, Spine Surgery at SGMC was ranked #1 in Georgia. Healthgrades helps consumers make valid decisions about physicians and hospitals.
Evaluations of how 4,500 hospitals nationwide performed on risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates for nearly 30 of the most common conditions treated and procedures performed from 2009 through 2011 can be found in the American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation.
Apart from SGMC’s spine surgery being rated #1 in Georgia, its spine care was in the top 10 percent in the nation, receiving a 5-star rating for: Spine Surgery and Spine Fusion for 2 years in a row (2012-2013) and Back and Neck Surgery (Except Fusion) in 2013. Physician members of the Spine Surgery team are: Eric Gee, MD, James Goss, DO, Hitham Khalil, MD and Edward Mark, Jr., MD.
“This national and state recognition signifies an important milestone in spine surgery excellence for the South Georgia Health System and our Spine Care Centers at the SGMC Main Campus and Smith Northview Campus,” stated Randy Sauls, CEO. “The awards validate the decisions of more than 1,500 spine patients between 2009 and 2011, who made the decision to have a surgical procedure performed locally.”
Hospital outcomes and complication rates are essential to consumers making choices about their health care. Research conducted by Harris Interactive, states that 90 percent of Americans in 27 top designated market areas agree they would be more likely to choose—or not choose—a hospital if they could learn ahead of time their chances of complications for a certain procedure. The 2013 Healthgrades hospital quality outcomes are free to the public here.
Healthgrades independently measures hospitals based on data that hospitals submit to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of the analysis and no hospital pays to be measured. Healthgrades risk adjusts for patient demographic characteristics and clinical risk factors, thereby taking into account how sick patients are upon admission. More information on the report, including the complete methodology, can be found here.
For more information on SGMC, click here.
