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The specialties and hospitals recognized:
--For cardiac care -- BryanLGH Medical Center of Lincoln, Creighton University Medical Center-St. Joseph Hospital of Omaha and Nebraska Methodist Hospital of Omaha.
--For bariatric surgery -- Regional West Medical Center of Scottsbluff.
--For bariatric surgery and cardiac care -- St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center of Lincoln.
--For cardiac care; and bone marrow, stem cell, liver and simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplants -- the Nebraska Medical Center of Omaha.
--For complex and rare-cancer care -- the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Eppley Cancer Center at the Nebraska Medical Center.
Blue Cross said it collaborates with employer groups, health-care providers and medical organizations to provide consumers with information about quality.
The hospitals on the list meet objective "clinical quality" measurements developed with expert physicians and medical organizations, Blue Cross said, citing studies of the results of medical treatment at the hospitals.
"This designation provides consumers with a credible, easily identifiable means of selecting facilities that best meet their individual specialty care needs," Blue Cross said in a press release.
For example, Blue Cross said, studies by HealthCore Inc., a subsidiary of WellPoint Inc., indicate hospitals with the designation for cardiac care had lower readmission rates and lower costs for certain procedures than nondesignated hospitals.
Readmission rates at designated hospitals were 26 percent lower for bypass surgery and 37 percent lower for outpatient angioplasty, within 30 days; and 21 percent lower for bypass surgery and 32 percent lower for outpatient angioplasty within 90 days.
Costs over 90 days also were 5 percent less for bypass procedures and 12 percent less for outpatient angioplasty, Blue Cross said.
Hospitals designated for transplant programs had 11 percent adult mortality rates after one year, compared with 19 percent for nondesignated hospitals, Blue Cross said.
The short-term major complication rate for bariatric surgery at designated hospitals was 5 percent, compared with 8 percent for nondesignated hospitals, Blue Cross said.
More than 650 hospitals in 45 states have received one or more designations under the program. Blue Cross said it is expanding the list to include other specialty areas, including other cancer and transplant areas, spine surgery and joint replacement.
--Contact the writer: 444-1080, steve.jordon@owh.com
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