Healthy Heart Heroes: Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Among Top 50 in the U.S. for Cardiac Care

May is Stroke Awareness Month and in recognition of this important event, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco wants you to know that stroke is linked to several types of heart disease. Coronary heart disease and stroke share many of the same risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, lack of physical activity and, of course, smoking. Individuals who have coronary heart disease have more than twice the risk of stroke as those who don’t.

While choosing the right hospital for the right procedure is a complex decision, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco stands out for several specialties, procedures and conditions -- including cardiac care.

For the second year in a row, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center is among the Top 50 in the nation for the specialty of cardiac care and heart surgery, according to the U.S. News and World Report’s 2016-17 Best Hospitals report.

Among other specialties, it was rated “high performing” – the highest rating given – in cancer, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery, and geriatrics. Among nine common adult procedures and conditions, it was rated high-performing in aortic valve surgery, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, hip replacement and knee replacement.

“It is a great honor to be recognized by U.S. News and World Report,” said Maria Ansari, MD, Physician-in Chief, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco. “As a cardiologist I know first-hand the high quality care we are providing our members. This recognition of our specialty care can be directly attributed to Kaiser Permanente’s culture of collaboration in an integrated system, evidence-based practices and personalized service. The health and well-being of our members is a shared responsibility between our highly-skilled physicians, nurses and care teams, working together collaboratively as one.’’

The annual rankings and ratings by U.S. News & World Report, considered to be an objective assessment of hospital care excellence, are based on evaluation of nearly 5,000 medical centers nationwide. This study is intended to help guide patients to hospitals that deliver outstanding care across 25 specialties, procedures and conditions. Best Hospitals uses objective measures such as patient survival, the number of times a given procedure is performed, infection rates, adequacy of nurse staffing and more.

Ben Harder, chief of health analysis at U.S. News said, “A hospital that emerged from our analysis as one of the best has much to be proud of.”

This past year, 153 hospitals were ranked in at least one specialty, while 1,628 received a high-performing rating in one or more specialties, procedures or conditions. In rankings by state and metro area, U.S. News recognized hospitals that were high-performing across multiple areas of care.