St. Luke's Hospital has received 2017 Healthgrades Specialty Excellence Awards for the exceptional quality of its cardiac care, cardiac surgery, coronary intervention and general surgery. And according to the national hospital quality study published today by Healthgrades, St. Luke's also achieved five-star ratings for the quality of its stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure treatment.

"These achievements are the result of our entire healthcare team working together to provide each patient the best care possible," said Christine M. Candio, RN, FACHE, St. Luke's Hospital president and chief executive officer. "This is how we live our mission to improve the quality of life for our patients and the community."

Healthgrades is an independent healthcare ratings organization. For this analysis, Healthgrades evaluated Medicare inpatient records from 2013 through 2015 for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide, and it assessed hospital performance related to more than 30 of the most common inpatient conditions and procedures.

To determine its Specialty Excellence Award recipients, Healthgrades assigns an overall score for each specialty area based on hospital performance, taking into account actual and predicted rates of survival, complications and volume. The top 5 or 10 percent of hospitals within each specialty area are recognized as Healthgrades Specialty Excellence Award recipients.

A five-star rating indicates that a hospital's clinical results are statistically significantly better than expected. According to Healthgrades, patients treated at a hospital receiving five stars have a higher chance of survival and a lower risk of complications during a hospital stay than if they were treated at a hospital receiving a one-star rating in that procedure or condition.

"Consumers have many choices regarding where to receive their healthcare, which is why it's so vital that they understand outcomes performance at specific hospitals for specific conditions and procedures," said Evan Marks, chief strategy officer, Healthgrades. "Those hospitals that have achieved specialty excellence distinctions from Healthgrades exemplify a commitment to exceptional quality of patient care."

Hospitals cannot opt out of the Healthgrades analysis, and no hospital pays to be rated. Healthgrades risk-adjusts for patient demographic characteristics and clinical risk factors, thus taking into account how sick patients were before admission to the hospital.