NY State Report Shows LIJ, North Shore University Hospital with Top Cardiac Results

New state reports also recognizes performance of four North Shore-LIJ cardiac surgeons, one cardiologist

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May 09, 2014, 06:00 ET

NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y., May 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Newly released New York State Department of Health (DOH) reports show Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY, had the state's best outcomes for patients undergoing surgeries to repair or replace heart valves and for those in need of surgeries for both valve and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

According to the DOH's latest report on adult cardiac surgery (covering 2009-11), LIJ was one of only two hospitals in New York State – out of 40 statewide that perform open-heart surgeries -- with risk-adjusted mortality rates that were significantly better than the statewide average for patients undergoing heart valve or valve/CABG surgeries. Performing 618 surgeries during that period, LIJ had a risk-adjusted mortality rate that was the lowest in the state. In addition, LIJ was one of only three hospitals in the state to receive the DOH's prestigious double-asterisk for their extraordinarily low mortality rates for all open-heart surgery cases, including CABG, valve and valve/CABG – LIJ performed approximately 1,500 surgeries during that three-year period.

In a separate DOH report on percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) performed at 59 hospitals across New York State, North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) in Manhasset, NY, had the highest success rate for patients undergoing emergency and non-emergency angioplasty, a stent procedure used to clear blocked arteries and increase blood flow to the heart. NSUH had the lowest risk-adjusted mortality rate for all angioplasty cases in 2011 (the latest year for which figures were available) as well as the entire three-year period (2009-11) covered in the DOH report. NSUH was one of only two hospitals statewide that had significantly better outcomes in 2011 for both emergency and non-emergency cases, one of only three statewide for all procedures performed from 2009-11 – and the only New York hospital that had superior outcomes for emergency angioplasty procedures during that three-year period. It was the eighth consecutive year that NSUH has received a double asterisk for its stent procedure outcomes.

Another member of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, had significantly better outcomes for non-emergency angioplasty cases from 2009-11.

In addition to the hospitals' overall performance, two LIJ cardiothoracic surgeons, Robert Palazzo, MD, and S. Jacob Scheinerman, MD, and two North Shore University Hospital surgeons, Sheel Vatsia, MD, and Robert Kalimi, MD, were among 11 surgeons statewide to who distinguished themselves for their extraordinarily low mortality rates -- out of a total of more than 180 surgeons who performed open-heart surgeries during that period. Among the more than 400 cardiologists throughout New York State who performed emergency and non-emergency angioplasty procedures during the three years covered in the report, Loukas Boutis, MD, of NSUH was one of only three statewide with significantly better survival rates for stent procedures.

"The state Department of Health's analysis of cardiac outcomes in hospitals across New York has contributed to continuous improvements in the care delivered to New Yorkers with heart disease, which continues to be the number one cause of death in this state and in this country," said Stanley Katz, MD, senior vice president of cardiovascular services for the North Shore-LIJ Health System and chair of cardiology at North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center. "Both state reports reaffirm the superior results of the cardiac services being delivered at North Shore-LIJ hospitals."

To see interviews with Dr. Katz and Dr. Scheinerman, go to: http://www.northshorelij.com/hospitals/video-library?channelId=123432bc283e421da3e31e3377f2c7f6&channelListId&mediaId=6057d8309c1d4bbf8bfa215081a61b2a

To see copies of the state reports, go to:

Adult Cardiac Surgery
http://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/diseases/cardiovascular/heart_disease/docs/2009-2011_adult_cardiac_surgery.pdf

Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (Angioplasty)
http://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/diseases/cardiovascular/docs/pci_2009-2011.pdf

SOURCE North Shore-LIJ Health System