Kaiser Permanente's Oakland Medical Center among nation's high performing hospitals

Kaiser Permanente’s Oakland Medical Center has been rated high performing for hip and knee replacements in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals for Common Care ratings. The ratings evaluated more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide on common inpatient procedures and conditions.

“This recognition from U.S. News & World Report demonstrates our high level of commitment to the health of our patients,” said Odette Bolano, senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Permanente’s East Bay Area. “We are proud to be recognized for the work that our physicians, nurses, physical therapists and the entire team plays in providing excellent care to our patients every day.”

“This really is more than an acknowledgement of the advanced care we provide,” said Dr. John Loftus, physician in chief for Kaiser Permanente’s East Bay Area. “This recognition represents improved outcomes for our patients and a better quality of life.”

U.S. News evaluated hospitals in five procedures and medical conditions – heart bypass surgery, hip replacement, knee replacement, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – and issued ratings of high performing, average or below average. Only about 10 percent of the hospitals evaluated nationwide were rated as high performers in one or more procedures.

Ten Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California, including Kaiser Permanente’s Oakland Medical Center, received high performing ratings in one or more procedures. Nationally, twenty-two Kaiser Permanente hospitals were rated high performing in one or more procedures.

Hospitals that received high performing ratings: Santa Clara Medical Center with three for heart bypass, hip and knee replacement; South San Francisco Medical Center received three for hip and knee replacement, and heart failure; Antioch, two for hip and knee replacement; Manteca, two for hip replacement and heart failure; Oakland, two for hip and knee replacement; Sacramento, two for hip replacement and heart failure; and Santa Rosa medical centers received two for hip and knee replacement; San Jose, one high performing rating for heart failure; and San Rafael received one high performing rating for hip replacement.

U.S. News created Best Hospitals for Common Care to help patients find better care for the kinds of common procedures and medical conditions that account for millions of hospitalizations each year. Objective outcome measures such as deaths, infections, readmissions, and operations that need to be repeated as well as patient satisfaction data largely determined the ratings. The Best Hospitals for Common Care ratings rely on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data for patients 65 and older, as well as survey data from the American Hospital Association and clinical registry data from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

The ratings are freely available at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals