Pelham Medical Center achieved 5-star ratings for Spinal Fusion Surgery outcomes, according to new research released by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems. Pelham Medical Center is also the only hospital in Spartanburg and Greenville counties to receive the Five-Star distinction for Spinal Fusion Surgery for seven years in a row (2015-21) from Healthgrades.

Every year, Healthgrades evaluates hospital performance at nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide for 32 of the most common inpatient procedures and conditions using Medicare data, and additional analyzes outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states. 

This analysis shows that patients treated at hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have a lower risk of dying and a lower risk of experiencing one or more complications during a hospital stay than if they were treated at hospitals receiving a 1-star rating in that procedure or condition.

From 2017 through 2019, if all hospitals as a group performed similarly to hospitals receiving 5-stars as a group, on average, 218,785 lives could potentially have been saved, and complications in 148,681 patients could potentially have been avoided.

Additionally, from 2017 through 2019, patients having Spinal Fusion Surgery in hospitals with 5-stars have, on average, a 65.6 percent lower risk of experiencing a complication while in the hospital than if they were treated in hospitals with 1 star. 

“Hospital quality has never been more important, and consumers are becoming more aware of the importance of researching where they receive care before they visit a hospital for a specific procedure or condition,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Healthgrades. “Hospitals that receive a Healthgrades 5-star rating for Spinal Fusion Surgery demonstrate exceptional outcomes and their ability to provide quality care for patients.” 

Orthopaedic surgeon Sanjitpal Gill, MD, medical director of Pelham Medical Center’s spine program, said the hospital is excited to once again be recognized for the quality of spine services it delivers.

“Over the years, we have developed a nationally recognized spine program that manages primary and revision spine surgery in order to provide a service to our patients that previously may have needed referral to a university center,” Dr. Gill said. “The growth of the program at Pelham Medical Center has been focused on compassionate care that is consistently provided on a platform of clinical excellence.”                                        

Pelham Medical Center was also recently recognized with the Healthgrades 2021 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™.

For its analysis, Healthgrades evaluated approximately 45 million Medicare inpatient records for nearly 4,500 short-term acute care hospitals nationwide to assess hospital performance in 32 common conditions and procedures and evaluated outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states. Healthgrades recognizes a hospital’s quality achievements for cohort-specific performance, specialty area performance, and overall clinical quality. Individual procedure or condition cohorts are designated as 5-star (statistically significantly better than expected), 3-star (not statistically different from expected) and 1-star (statistically significantly worse than expected). The complete Healthgrades 2021 Report to the Nation and detailed study methodology can be found at https://partners.healthgrades.com/healthgrades-quality-solutions/healthgrades-quality-awards/.

View Healthgrades hospital quality methodologies.