Flagler Hospital Named Among America's 100 Best For Orthopedic Surgery

St. Augustine, FL (October 21, 2020) – Flagler Hospital is one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery according to new research released by Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems. 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 outcomes in appendectomy and bariatric surgery using all-payer data provided by 16 states.

The hospitals that have achieved the Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery have demonstrated exceptional quality of care. From 2017-2019, patients treated at hospitals receiving the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery Award have, on average a 39.7% lower risk of experiencing a complication while in the hospital than if they were treated in hospitals that did not receive the award.*

“Now more than ever, consumers understand the importance of hospital quality and starting to become more diligent when researching where they receive care,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthgrades. “When selecting a hospital, consumers can feel confident in the America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery for their commitment to quality care and exceptional outcomes.”

The Flagler Health+ orthopedic surgery program features expert surgeons, orthopedic-certified nursing staff and specially trained physical therapists who all work together to achieve optimum outcomes for patients. Pre-surgery education classes are offered to knee and hip replacement patients, helping to clarify expectations and speed recovery times. The Flagler Hospital surgery center also features the Mako Robotic-Arm Assistive Technology, which allows the surgeon to create personalized surgical plans for patients with precise cuts that minimize hospital and recovery time.

“Being recognized as one of America’s Best 100 Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery again this year reflects deliberate and ongoing investments in training, technology, evidence-based practice and collaboration across all disciplines,” said Flagler Health+ President and CEO Jason Barrett. “We were pleased to introduce our new Orthopedic Surgical Specialists practice in Palm Coast earlier this year and look forward to expanding these offerings and more in St. Johns County.”

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). View the full list of Specialty Excellence AwardTM recipients here.

* Statistics are based on Healthgrades analysis of MedPAR data for years 2017 through 2019 and represent three-year estimates for Medicare patients only. For appendectomy and bariatric surgery, Healthgrades used inpatient data from 16 states that provide all-payer data for years 2016 through 2018.