Teamwork among doctors, nursing staff and others beats national averages in other areas, too.
Asante Rogue Regional has the fourth lowest readmission rate for heart failure patients in the country, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid has found.
“Congestive heart failure is the No. 1 reason folks over age 65 are admitted to the hospital,” says Kent Dauterman, MD, cardiologist with Southern Oregon Cardiology on the ARRMC campus. “The fact that ARRMC has the fourth lowest congestive heart failure readmission rate of 5,245 Medicare-approved hospitals in the United States clearly shows that our heart failure patients are receiving top-notch care. It is something our community can be proud of.”
CMS collected data from providers on unplanned readmissions, hospital return days and unplanned hospital visits after outpatient procedures between July 2020 and June 2023. The most recent data was released July 31.
Asante Rogue Regional’s readmission rate of 15.6 percent was only slightly above the country’s lowest rate of 14.8 percent.
“Providing great care to patients with congestive heart failure is often challenging due to medical and social complexities,” says Timo Dygert, MD, Medical Director of the Heart Care Clinic at SOC. In 2019, Asante and SOC worked together to develop a different way to care for these patients — addressing all of their vulnerabilities in a multifaceted way, he says.
“There is an amazing team of nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors and other healthcare professionals dedicated to meeting the needs of patients with congestive heart failure and trying to keep them out of the hospital,” Dygert says. “I couldn’t be prouder of our team for the excellent outcomes they have helped our patients achieve.”
Asante Rogue Regional was the only Oregon hospital to make the Top 10 list of hospitals with the lowest readmission rates.
Both Asante Rogue Regional and Asante Three Rivers made a separate list of the 10 hospitals with the lowest CMS payments for heart failure: ATRMC was the lowest at $15,127, and ARRMC was the third lowest at $15,748.
This measurement assesses Medicare Part A and Part B payments for services provided to a Medicare patient from three days prior to their hospital admission through 30 days after their discharge, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
National Recognitions
- Three stars (highest rating) for coronary artery bypass graft surgery, Society of Thoracic Surgeons
- Three stars (highest rating) for aortic valve replacement, Society of Thoracic Surgeons
- Top 10% of hospitals with lowest mortality rates for PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention), National Cardiovascular Data Registry
- Top 10% of hospitals with lowest mortality rates for STEMI (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, most serious of heart attacks), National Cardiovascular Data Registry
- Much better than average TAVR mortality rate, Society of Thoracic Surgeons and American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve Therapeutics Registry (0.7 percent compared with 1.5% national average)
