Healthgrades' latest ratings recognized several DFW hospitals for outstanding specialty clinical performance, and Medical City Healthcare is the most awarded system.

Healthgrades 2024 Specialty Excellence Awards and Five-Star Specialty Care Ratings include cardiac surgery, critical care, and orthopedic surgery. It evaluated 4,500 hospitals nationwide across 31 standard procedures and conditions. The organization analyzed 45 million Medicare medical claims for the three most recent years, evaluating 16 specialty care areas.

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital Plano, Medical City Dallas, and UTSW's University Hospital were named to the top 10 percent of all providers for overall cardiac care. For surgical care, Paris Regional Medical Center and Medical City Fort Worth earned recognition. Local critical care awardees include Medical City Arlington, Medical City Plano, Medical City Weatherford, and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Irving received recognition.

Baylor Scott and White Medical Center Grapevine, Baylor Scott and White Medical Center- Waxahachie, Medical City Lewisville, Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center - Fort Worth, and Baylor University Medical Center were all recognized for Pulmonary Care.

In total, 11 Medical City hospitals were recognized for their specialty care. "From investments and processes to leadership commitment and new technology, these awards recognize our expert teams' dedication to high quality, compassionate specialty services available throughout our system of care," says Allen Harrison, president of Medical City Healthcare. "Exceptional specialty care is among the many reasons North Texans turn to Medical City Healthcare hospitals as the destination of choice for healthcare excellence."

Nine North Texas Baylor Scott & White Health facilities were recognized for specialty care, as were four Texas Health Resources hospitals.

The ratings are part of the movement to increase transparency and make healthcare more shoppable for patients. Healthgrades' evaluations allow patients to find a hospital with a five-star ranking for the surgery they need rather than relying on referrals or recommendations that may not be based on data. Overall hospital rankings indicate quality processes, but procedure-specific evaluations are more practical for the average patient dealing with a single condition.

According to Healthgrades' data, if all hospitals performed as well as the highest-ranked facilities in its list, it would have saved 215,667 lives and avoided 149,521 complications. According to Healthgrades, patients treated for a heart attack at a five-star hospital were 50 percent less likely to die than those who visited a one-star hospital. Knee-replacement patients were 80 percent less likely to have complications at a five-star hospital compared to a one-star facility.

But not everyone is high on the Healthgrades ranking system. An evaluation of the different hospital ratings systems from Northwestern Medicine, Sound Physicians, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, the University of Michigan, Washington University in St. Louis, and University Hospitals gave Healthgrades a D+, worse than the U.S. News and World Report (B), CMS Star Rating (C), and Leapfrog Group (C-). The authors praised Healthgrades for its procedure and condition-specific rankings but criticized its lack of methodology transparency.

You can explore the complete list here.